Are the Palestinians in Gaza suffering? Yes. And many of them deserve to.
Picture getting stuck in traffic and coming late to a movie. As you slink into your chair, you are shocked to see on the silver screen a guy tied to a chair. A couple of fellows standing around him are beating the daylights out of him. Of course, you know that it is only a movie, but you are shocked by the violence visited upon this fellow. You are sure that he is going to die before the scene ends. The movie moves onto another location with different actors, and until the end of the film you don’t know why the handsome-looking fellow was being beaten or what happened to him in the end.
On the way home, you ask your friend about the disturbing scene. “Oh, that guy? He tortured and killed in cold blood everyone in the town. The three guys beating him up were the sole survivors. Theirs was a righteous revenge.”
There are many videos and descriptions online regarding the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. Flooded tents. Lousy food. No-longer-existing housing. And while there are also videos showing faked deaths and actors pretending to be wounded or crying, let’s assume that with the thousands of destroyed buildings in Gaza and a recent powerful weather system that brought a lot of rain, yes, many Palestinians find themselves living in tents that are no match for the brutal cold and wet conditions. It’s true and I won’t pretend that it’s otherwise, that they are sitting around a warm fireplace with a cigar and hot tea. They are suffering and they deserve it.
There are plenty of videos online of Germans immediately or shortly after the war. Their cities looked like Gaza or worse. One can see people who turned destroyed buildings into temporary quarters. You can see women and children darting along the street, not knowing where they will find the day’s food. The same can be seen for the Japanese, who had their sixty largest cities burned to the ground—besides the two atomic wastelands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. General Curtis LeMay, the architect of the aerial destruction of Japan, drove through Tokyo on his way to the official surrender aboard the USS Missouri. He described the total destruction of neighborhoods, but took comfort in seeing commercial lathes and other equipment that the Japanese used in their homes to make war material. They were all guilty and they got what they deserved.
And so too with the Palestinians. Let’s break it down to those 6,000 who went over into Israel to rape, torture, murder, kidnap, and steal. Much of it is documented via videos, survivor testimonies, and terrorist interrogations. Then we have the tens of thousands in the streets who received with great joy those who returned with dead bodies or raped women. They were no less ecstatic than their German counterparts who could barely control themselves when Hitler’s Mercedes would go by with the Fuhrer standing in the front. And then you have the general population who supported Hamas at over 70 percent immediately after the attack. These are the same people who voted them into office and gave their support in large numbers for the past two decades. Are there people in Gaza who hated Hamas after the pogrom? Of course. Are there those who have suffered from Hamas' brutality? Sure. But, this is not a wine tasting where each person can choose whatever vintage he or she wants. This is a population of nearly 2 million, the vast majority of whom participated, supported, or were thrilled in the murder of more than a thousand people, the vast majority civilians.
The enormous success of the Allies during World War II sprung from their direct linkage of the Axis armies and the people of the Axis countries. The U.S. and its partners battled enemy armies on multiple fronts but also bombed the home countries to help put them out of the war. The Palestinians have had over 30 years since the Oslo Accords were signed to renounce terror. They have had over 30 years to live in a smaller “Palestine” in peace with Israel and prosper themselves. They have had over 30 years to choose a better future for themselves rather than more dead Jews on the other side. And for those 30-plus years, they have chosen death over life, destruction over progress, and statelessness over a better future. The Palestinians are suffering because many of them are murderers or the supporters of murderers. Giving them better food and housing will only bring about the next great bloodletting by Hamas or whatever bloodthirsty group takes its place. When the Germans and Japanese made unconditional surrenders, the West rehabilitated both countries. Sure, the fear of them falling to the Soviets was a major driver, but in the end, both countries were made successful members of the Western democratic fraternity. The key was their unconditional surrender—giving up on their past desires for world conquest. The West responded in kind. Pilots who in 1945 had been bombing Berlin were called upon in 1948 to bring essential food to the citizens of Berlin due to Stalin’s attempt to starve the western part of the city into submission. The Berlin Airlift—also run by LeMay—was the U.S. at its finest hour.
Don’t be like the guy who comes into the movie in the middle and starts feeling sorry for the bloke strapped to the chair. The Palestinians have had innumerable opportunities to give up terror and make peace with Israel. They have at every turn chosen terror and war. And when you start a war, you don’t get the “off” button to make it end—that’s left for the other side. Israel is crushing Gaza from every angle in order that there will be no future attacks from this landmass. The Palestinians—like their Nazi predecessors—were thrilled at their success, but their joy was short-lived. Now they suffer, and they alone chose that outcome. There are many online pictures of how nice Gaza used to look. They had it but let their Jew-hatred call the shots. They wanted lots of dead Jews and they got it. Now, they are getting their comeuppance.
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