Israel at War: Observations of an Amateur

Every event, good or bad, brings a new crop of armchair experts. Hidden gems in geopolitics, deep-water diving, ancient near-eastern religions…thus untapped, now have their undeserved moment to shine.

 

Well, I’m no expert. I’m not a distinguished anything, senior fellow of this or that, I chair nothing. But, I’m gonna give my observations to you anyway. Because frankly, from the hallowed halls of our government to the ancient, agonizing streets of Israel—I don’t know that experts are really batting a thousand of late.

 

I am human. I have eyes, one good ear, a love of logic, and a penchant for prayer—and that’s sufficient. Observe the world. Choose not to be ignorant. That’s it. That’s my secret. It can be yours too.

 

My heart breaks for Israel, for friends of Israel, for those about to feel the wrath and weight of war, and for the world. Whether we know it or not, the last few days have found a significant piece of us dead and in need of burial as well.

 

We had already been quite intent on losing our minds, but part of our soul is gone now too. And I don’t see it being resurrected. It was a slow death for the seat of truth, clarity, morality, and empathy. But went quickly in the end. The cause? Again, I’m no expert, but I would imagine a couple decades of being starved of every good, Godly, healthy, or holy thing and having only weird and wicked things force-fed to us didn’t help.

 

Let us all mourn together, for what was and is no more, and observe that we may be spared greater grief.

 

Observe:

1. The terrorist attack on Israel is evil. There is no need to mince words, this is not nuanced—it does not require deft. It was not a proportional response to oppression or occupation. It was not the “cost of conflict” between governments or military mights. It was barbarians targeting innocent people—civilians—women, and children, and pillaging like ancient conquerors of Biblical old. These were not heroes or martyrs. They were madmen and mercenaries. Hell will welcome them. Don’t be ambiguous on this. It is beneath you and if it’s not, it should be.

 

2. Why did this happen? Hatred. Now, I know some other non-expert is going to make a correlation between this horror and the ill treatment of Palestinians. Not so. Did this attack ease the suffering of Palestinians? Did it secure freedom for anyone? Garner goodwill? Broker peace? Nope. In fact, the only thing it guaranteed was the immediate and impending death of Palestinians as Israel responds. It was an unwinnable mission to inflict suffering, that moved the needle none and accomplished only dishonorable things—strike fear, satisfy bloodlust, indulge in revenge on people who had personally done nothing except exist.

 

3. How did this happen? Failures on every front. We can only postulate about what was known or unknown and by whom, but I think we can agree—intelligence did not succeed. Procedures and protocols did not work. Defense systems shuttered. The once renowned fortress of Israel was revealed to be not so iron-clad after all. It’s nothing to gloat about. They simply learned the lesson most recently, but mark my words —it’s on the syllabus for the US as well. We have enemies who have a singular purpose—to see us destroyed—and they are willing to watch and wait. However long it takes, whatever alliances it requires, whatever shedding of morality is needed—the goal has not changed, the hatred has not waned. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But someday, there will be weakness and it will be exploited. And it will likely have its origin traced back to the enemy. A poison pill or poison party. Either one will do.

 

4. Even the strongest can be weak. We give undue credit when we underestimate our enemy’s depravity. We relax rigor when we overestimate our abilities. We ignore warnings when we overestimate our enemy’s goodness. America is doing the very same thing as we coddle infant socialists in Congress, tolerate tyranny, and allow every idea equal weight. All the while thinking, “We is too kind, we is too smart, we is too important,” for it to matter. It matters.

 

5. Relativism is the death of all good things. There are bad people. There are bad ideas. We are not monsters for acknowledging it. Clarity is a mark of character and compromise the stain of cowards. Period. Clarity is objective. Even about hard things. I can grieve the plight of Palestinians AND think terrorism against Israel is bad. See how easy? I can think Israel should respond, as it has been forced to, without wanting WWIII.

 

6. The social justice movement has made us spineless and spiteful. A prime example is Kylie Jenner deleting a pro-Israel tweet after backlash. We have no moral compass and instead hold fingers in the air to test the winds, waiting on the mob to tell us if we are outraged or not and why. Quick to chime in insincerely if it is demanded, even more quick to remain silent. My word, we fear man and crave approval to dangerous degrees. See #3 & 4.

 

7. Terrorists thrive in liberalism. Prove me wrong. Marxism does all the heavy lifting for the wolf. It destroys commonality, divides, and degrades history and heritage. It silences courage. It knows our softened cores must tolerate and give voice to all. It knows our egos will obscure and skew reality. Evil unopposed is emboldened. Period. Leftists don’t oppose evil, because there is no evil. Thus, no enemy. Has this massacre not illustrated this point sufficiently? Not everyone who breaches your border is a friend.

 

8. The terrorist attack on Israel reveals such hypocrisy. Those who accuse every Republican or conservative of being a Nazi, literally marching for anti-Semitism, celebrating the destruction of innocent Jews. Those who think Trump was a dictator, but are pro-Hamas? I’m sorry the Palestinians suffer under a terrorist regime, I’m sorry they live in poverty while their leaders are billionaires. Where is the demand for income equity under Hamas? Queers for Palestine? I’m sorry that one is just laughable. The voice of the resistance and dissent in America…could say nothing in Palestine. We have no true sense of justice.

 

9. Israel will continue to receive all the grace and mercy the left allows. Which is none. This is what they do. Project. Provoke. Retreat. It took exactly 3 minutes to pivot to occupation as the cause and Palestinians as the victims. Leftist media (and our administration) were calling for a ceasefire before Israel fired a shot. You must endure the attack but never defend or offend. That’s how they win. Instigate war and call you a war-monger.

 

10. The enemy wins until the enemy is stopped. Not chided or chastised. STOPPED. Do not negotiate. Do not mitigate. Do not equivocate. Confront. Subdue. None are safe if we don’t. Not nations. Not women and children. This won’t end in Gaza because it didn’t begin in Gaza. The war will go to Tehran. Then where? Your Christian neighbors’ eyes are on Damascus. Ask them why.

 

We can be paralyzed or mobilized, controlled or in-control. There is an enemy who hates Jews. But there are also enemies who hate freedom, faith, and family in any country. In every country. Anyone can see that.