Opinion: The Israel-Hamas war narrative will shift in ways we can’t even perceive
'Educate yourself': a message for Jewish students to share with their non-Jewish friends, written for Jewish News by Ben Byre, a Jewish student at Nottingham Trent University
The true details of the events that have unfolded over the last few days have been publicly shared all over social media by the Jewish Community, and yet we hear a deafening silence from those who aren’t directly affected. The fault does not sit with anyone who is uneducated on the situation, but more the people who refuse to educate themselves.
As we know, Hamas has announced that for every retaliation attack against them that Israel carries out, they will publicly execute unarmed, innocent civilian hostages and post the videos online, celebrating their actions.
I don’t think that is sinking in for unaffected bystanders, so let us reiterate.
Innocent babies, children and elderly people have already, and will continue to lose their lives, yet hardly anyone seems to care. Hamas have started a war to “eradicate” and “slaughter” the Jewish population, but don’t think it will stop there.
Hamas are declaring war on the world and are trying to rid the world of ANYONE who doesn’t agree with their extremist views. And yet despite this, we are seeing protesters and celebrities around the world, praising and celebrating the slaughtering, kidnapping, raping, desecrating, and torturing of innocent civilians who wanted nothing to do with this war.
When I hear the phrase “Free Palestine”, it is something that I agree with and wholeheartedly support. However, due to Hamas and some western media propaganda, there is a new definition of what this really means, and it hasn’t got anything to do with freedom for the Palestinian people.
This is evident in Sydney, with protesters chanting “Gas the Jews” and “F**k the Jews”. In San Diego, an Israeli protester was senselessly beaten by the so-called ‘Pro-Palestinian’ protesters.
In London, Jewish businesses were vandalised, and people celebrated the attack. In New York, a man held up a swastika at a Pro-Palestine march. This is just to name a few incidents of the repercussions in the rest of the world, more specifically countries and cities deemed to be far more progressive.
Palestinian people should be free, free from the terrorist regime that is simply using them to boost their selfish political interests. Hamas don’t care about the people of Palestine, the funding they receive from the Iranian government goes towards weapons for the sole purpose of “eradicating the Jews”. The Israeli people should not be held accountable for the far-right political government, likewise, onnocent Palestinians should not be targeted and ridiculed as a result of a war they didn’t want.
Throughout this war, we are all likely to experience difficult conversations on campus. It is so important that we rightly separate the complex political situation without disregarding the effects that this has had on BOTH sides.
What will ensue in the next stages of this war is retaliatory attacks from Israel that will be painted by Western media as brutal attacks. The narrative will shift in ways we can’t even perceive, and that is why we all have a responsibility to educate people and let them see the truth. It is our duty to gain support for our heroes on the frontline who fight in unprecedented circumstances, and barbaric conditions. The unity in the Jewish community is unfathomably strong. Come together, educate people, we ALL must stand up, speak out, and condemn Terrorism.
- Ben Byre is a Jewish student at Nottingham Trent University
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