VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -The Vatican’s top diplomat sharply criticised Israel’s “ongoing massacre” in Gaza in comments published on Monday – one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations of Israel’s war against the militant group Hamas.

In an interview tied to the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, Cardinal Pietro Parolin also called those attacks “inhuman and indefensible” and urged Hamas to free remaining hostages…

Israel attacked Gaza after the Hamas-led attack in 2023 in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s campaign has killed more than 67,000 in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities…” More

~~~

The Brutal Face of War

+ The Real “Holocaust Narrative”. Timothy Snyder.

+ Douglas Murray with Jordan Peterson

Dershowitz

The Immediate Causes of the Current Wars The following points are not subject to rational dispute:

1) had Hamas not broken the cease-fire that was in existence on October 6, 2023, invaded Israel, and murdered 1,200, and kidnapped 250 innocent children, women, and men, there would be no war in Gaza;

2) if Hamas did not employ innocent Gazans as human shields, the death toll among civilians would be considerably lower;

3) if Hamas were to end its belligerence and turn over those responsible for October 7, the war would end;

4) if Hezbollah had not begun to fire thousands of rockets into Israel on October 8 and thereafter, there would be no war in Lebanon;

5) if Israel were to stop defending itself, Hamas would repeat October 7, and Hezbollah would keep firing missiles at Israel. Now to the accusations.

Here, in summary and chronological form, are the protesters’ ten central accusations about the past, the present, and the future, and why they are false.

The Past

1) Israel is not a “settler-colonial” state. It was established as a national liberation movement for the Jewish people, who have had a continuous presence in what is now Israel for thousands of years. The Zionist movement successfully fought against both Ottoman and British colonialism and established a vibrant democracy in place of tyrannical colonialist rule.

2) Israel has not denied the Palestinian people statehood. Israel accepted the two-state solution proposed by the UN in 1947–1948, but the Palestinian leadership rejected statehood because it opposed the establishment of any nation-state for the Jewish people, regardless of size. Since 1967, Palestinians have refused to accept resolutions that would have resulted in a Palestinian state on more than 90 percent of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip.

3) Israel did not cause the Palestinian refugee problem. Had the Arab states not attacked the new state of Israel in 1948, there would have been no “nakba” and no Palestinian refugees. There would have been a two-state solution in which the Jewish state had a Jewish majority and the Arab state had an Arab majority. Palestinian leaders have exacerbated the problem by creating refugee camps, rather than integrating their fellow Arabs, the way Israel integrated a similar number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. The United Nations has contributed to the refugee problem by establishing a special agency, UNRWA, that is dedicated to maintaining these camps and the status quo of their residents as “refugees.” The Present

4) Israel is not guilty of apartheid. Israel is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state in which Arab citizens vote, serve in every branch of the government, and have more civil liberties and human rights than Arabs and Muslims have in any country in the Middle East.

5) Israel is not guilty of genocide. To the contrary, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed fewer civilians in relation to combatants than any nation in history that has fought against terrorists who use civilians as human shields. Israel is not deliberately “starving” the civilians of Gaza; it has provided tons of food and medical equipment, much of which Hamas has stolen.

6) The IDF does not target civilians. Israel takes great precautions, including warnings to civilians, precisely to minimize civilian deaths, while Hamas does everything in its power to maximize civilian deaths both among Israelis and Palestinians. Hamas takes innocent civilians as hostages and uses them as human shields in violation of the laws of war. Israel targets terrorist leaders and commanders in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and other locations in a successful effort to minimize civilian casualties.

7) The Israeli military presence in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon does not violate international law. It is lawful to maintain a military occupation and presence in captured or enemy territory as long as belligerency continues, as it does throughout the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Lebanon.

8) Israeli civilian settlements in Gaza (which ended in 2005) and in West Bank may be unwise but their legality or illegality is subject to reasonable dispute under international law. These areas are disputed territories and legal experts disagree as to their status, subject to an agreed-upon resolution. Israel has repeatedly offered to end its occupation of the West Bank (with some land swaps) in exchange for peace. The Palestinian leadership has not accepted these offers.

The Future

9) A two-state solution is possible only if Hamas no longer controls Gaza and Hezbollah no longer dominates Lebanon. Hamas categorically opposes any resolution that recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and insists on their right to destroy the “Zionist entity” by military force, including terrorism of the sort it employed on October 7, 2023, which it has promised to repeat. It wants an exclusively Islamic Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.” Most protesters also reject a two-state solution that allows Israel to exist, as does Iran and Hezbollah.

10) Peace in the region is possible only if Iran no longer attacks Israel through its surrogates. Iran demands the right to destroy “the little Satan,” Israel, by arming and mobilizing Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and other terrorist organizations that repeatedly attack Israel. Israel has the right and obligation to repel or preempt these attacks. There are legitimate criticisms that can be leveled at the Israeli government and its armed forces, just as there are legitimate criticisms against other democracies battling terrorism. But criticism must be based on standards that are equally applicable to all democracies. There cannot be multiple standards based on invidious discrimination. Nor can legitimate criticism be based on distortions of the historical record or the present realities. Those who make these accusations must recognize the indisputable reality that if Israel’s enemies—led by Iran—stopped attacking Israel, there would be peace. If Israel stopped defending itself, there would be genocide. — The Ten Big Anti-Israel Lies

Note: Many of us believe that Israel and Hamas / Gazans / Palestinians will likely not be able to live together peacefully anytime, if ever, in the near future. Both peoples have very long memories and, as history shows, we saw once again on October 7, when Israel relaxes, militant Islamics viciously pounce. Unfortunately, anti-Israeli numbers are growing in certain enclaves, even in Catholic circles, and these people will back anyone who is against Israel.

Note: Canon Law 212

“The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.”