This is the specific stance I have on whatever atrocities by Hamas you want me to consider.

You cannot expect me to believe that any fighting force is going to do any warfare without atrocities. You particularly will never, ever be able to convince me that fighting in civilian-populated areas will ever be free from sexual violence, from coercion, from civilian casualties. This is kind of just the nature of war - there is no such thing as a "good, clean war" and there never will be. Israel has committed plenty of human rights violations against Palestinians and whatever human rights violation you want me to worry about on October 7 has been done to Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. And it's also been done on every other population under military threat by every other military on the planet. Don't kid yourself.

What concerns me is not which side has "fought the cleanest" and what concerns me is also not which side is nicest. What specifically concerns me is the amount of control civilian populations are under and the way those civilian populations are being discussed. Each side has committed war crimes. I'm not going to bat for Hamas. But just like I expect you to stand in support of Israeli civilians who have done no wrong, I think there is something deeply wrong with you if you won't stand in support of Palestinian civilians who have done nothing wrong. And if you want to point to specific atrocities and war crimes that have been widespread on both sides as reason that Palestinian civilians should not be afforded the care Israeli citizens automatically are, then I think something is rotten in your heart.

I am also concerned by apartheid in general. Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to military law whereas Israelis in the West Bank are subject to civilian law. Reputable Israeli human rights organizations like B'tselem themselves have described Israeli laws pertaining to Palestinians (and other non-Jews in Israel, like the Druze people) as apartheid.

First and foremost in my heart I am a Jew. I was raised hoping one day to make my own home in Israel or Palestine, whatever you want to name it: the region itself is a place I see as the land of my forefathers. The part of my family I am closest to, care most about, and want to be connected to came to America from the Middle East in my grandparents' lifetimes. And I myself was raised in America, in a fundamentally flawed system with a long, bloody legacy of racism and violent settler-colonialism. For me, patriotism includes wanting the countries I care about to do better.

And at the moment Israel in its current incarnation has killed one in every 200 individuals in Gaza. Hamas's attack on October 7 was a tragedy - but they did not kill one in every 200 civilians in Israel. And they have not continued to kill tens or hundreds of civilians per day, and they have not committed to a siege of starvation on a mostly-civilian population. Israel's attacks on Gaza have targeted hospitals, schools, UN sites, and refugee camps. Israel will be able to recover from the October 7 attack. Most of Gaza's infrastructure lies in ruins.

History has taught us also that oppression will not last forever. One day the government in Israel will be overturned, and if it isn't, Palestinians will still be treated better and given a place in society. One way or another, the people of Palestine will be free. The mistreatment only promises that this freedom must be bought in Israeli blood- if there is no path forward but through Israel, then that will be the path that must be taken. And at the moment there is no path forward for the people of Gaza but through Israel. So I cannot find myself surprised that the people of Gaza are lashing out with violence, when history teaches us that this is always the case. And history also teaches us that in the years after, modern Israel will be spoken about wrapped in disclaimers of racism and Islamophobia and settler-colonialism the way America is now, or in tones of abject horror the way that Nazi Germany or Apartheid South Africa is now, depending on which way the tables turn for the current regime. Nelson Mandela, to the Western majority, was a terrorist involved in bombings before he was a hero.

I think it's rare that there's a situation this clear-cut in this day and age, where despite the tactics used by either side even a modicum of historical literacy tells you what must be done and what side needs more support. The people of Gaza are without food, without water, without safe shelter, under a four-day ceasefire that will pick back up after it's left off unless something changes and under a military blockade even if the ceasefire is permanent holding them in a cramped, besieged location. Travel for Palestinians is difficult and requires approval from both local Palestinian authorities and Israeli administrative groups; travel for Israeli citizens is significantly easier. And in the West Bank, Palestinians are under threat.

This doesn't even touch on the horrendous, genocidal remarks from Israeli government leaders. I'm not repeating the remarks verbatim, because there are too many: read them for yourself here. It's kind of really obvious that Hamas itself is not ever going to take over Israel if you're paying attention. But Israel exerts a lot of control over Gaza. Calling civilians cockroaches, subhumans, and human animals and then shelling them for more than a month straight is pretty fucking bad.

Free Palestine. Justice for the Palestinians.