Nicholas Kristof asks "What Can We Possibly Say to the Children of Gaza?" He gives poignant examples of Arab children in this territory who have suffered grievous physical and mental harm. All are in great risk of actual starvation. Hospitals, there, have run out of pretty much everything.
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What is the message this New York Times columnist imparts? "… we Americans should face our complicity in" the tragedy of this little girl Kristoff mentions who faces amputation of her leg and other such tragedies which have befell the children of Gaza.
I have a very different message for the children of Gaza.
Children of Gaza, you now are suffering from very dire circumstances. Why? It is due to the fact that your parents hate Jews in general, and Israelis in particular, more than they love you. You are the victims of child abuse. In any rational, moral, just, society, you would be taken away from your evil mothers and fathers, and adopted by parents who will love you. If children have any rights at all, it is to be cared for, nurtured, protected, safeguarded. You should be more precious to them than they are to themselves. Parents should put the lives of their children ahead of their own. To say the least, this is not at all the way your parents treat you. Rather, they mistreat you.
This of course does not apply to all Gazan parents. Many I have no doubt love their children just as much as do good parents all around the world. However, under totalitarian Hamas rule they are not free to protect their progeny (they may get killed if they tried to do so).
Your parents use you as human shields. They place rocket launchers in the middle of schools, hospitals, mosques, playgrounds, where you are placed in great danger. Those rockets were aimed at, among others, Jewish children. What do your mothers and fathers expect? That the Israelis will refuse to bomb these installations, so as to save yourselves? (As it happens, the Israeli Defense Force strives mightily to do just that. They first leaflet, warning of ensuring attacks. No other army does any such thing. Certainly, your parents do not reciprocate with their rockets).
Place close attention to the two cartoons I am now sending you. Notice that the Hamas fighter has a baby placed right in front of him. That baby looks scared. This is not accident on the part of the artist. Rather, this eloquently depicts how adult Gazans treat their children: they do not safeguard you, they endanger you.
The second cartoon makes the same point. It shows soldiers from both Israel and Gaza aiming rifles at each other. But the warrior from the IDF places the Jewish baby carriage behind him, while the Hamas terrorist and child abuser is located behind the Arab baby carriage.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, these cartoons are worth 10,000 words each.
Your parents launched a despicable, unwarranted, almost but not quite unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023. Many Israeli children were mangled, just as you now are; many more have been slaughtered, the fate of all too many of you Gazan children. Had Hamas parents not done so, the IDF would not now be bombing your homes, schools, playgrounds. They are not aiming at that result. Your injuries and deaths are what is called collateral damage. This is very regrettable, but is the only way Israel can defend itself.
Your parents in Hamas are now promising one, two, three, more repetitions of their despicable depredations of October 7, 2023. Is it really even remotely reasonable to expect the IDF to cease and desist their military operations, to engage in a pause, a ceasefire, while Hamas is still a going concern? You are young, but not too young to see the utter foolishness of any such occurrence. All human beings have a right of self-defense. Jews too.
Hamas still holds more than 100 hostages. These are kidnap victims. There are children amongst them, several of your own ages. There is even a one year old Jewish baby now being held by your parents, if he is still alive, that is. Israeli parents love their children, even if the same cannot be said of your mothers and fathers. Can you really expect the IDF to cease operations, even temporarily, while such a noxious event is still ongoing?
Children of Gaza, you have been mis-educated. At school, hatred for Jews and Israelis has been imparted to you. Do not be misled. Arabs hate Israelis, but the latter do not reciprocate. Their fondest wish was to have Gaza become the Hong Kong of the Middle East. Instead, you parents built tunnels through which to launch ceaseless attacks.
If Hamas surrendered and released all hostages, your safety would be assured. You are now being victimized by your parents, not the Israelis.
If Hamas disarmed, there would be peace. If Israel did so, there would be no Israel. I greatly regret your parents have placed you in such great danger. I wish only the best for you children of Gaza.
Never again.
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