Should Cebuanos and the rest of the Filipinos be concerned about what’s going on in Israel?
I know it’s thousands of kilometers away, but the aftershocks of the recent Hamas attacks on Israeli villages and citizens continue to send political reverberations that could trigger a much bigger conflagration.
The Philippine government officially condemned the incident last Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. And while I agree with Malacañang’s action, I am a bit worried about what Israeli Ambassador to Manila Ilan Fluss said on the same day in a press briefing.
“We call on our friends and allies to express strong support for Israel and to condemn these terror attacks by Hamas. We expect the international community and our close allies to condemn terror and express support for Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens,” he said in a Rappler report.
He’s right. All sovereign nations have the right to defend themselves and their citizens. But when you go into someone else’s territory and start bombing it to smithereens, then that’s something else.
You see, Israel also has thousands of Palestinian blood on its hands. And I’m not referring to the civilians in Gaza City who have been killed in the last few days as a result of Israel’s airstrikes in retaliation to the Hamas attacks.
Since Israel was founded in 1948, many Palestinians who have lived in the area for millennia suddenly found themselves without a home. Their diaspora rivals that of the original Jewish Diaspora more than 2,500 years ago after Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah.
Since then, thousands have died, and thousands have suffered. Majority of the casualties have always been Palestinians. The West turned a blind eye to their plight, and instead made sure that the newly created state of Israel would be able to stand on its feet. Perhaps still feeling the guilt of what Europe did to its Jews during the Second World War, or perhaps not wanting millions of Jews on their doorstep.
Of course, that all changed during the Hamas attacks last Saturday, Oct. 7.
Suddenly, Israeli civilians were the victims, and Israel cities and villages were the targets of rocket bombardment. It would seem that the tide had turned.
I know it’s not the politically correct thing to say, but I’m afraid Israel finally got a dose of its own medicine.
And as expected, Israel’s response was brutal. Neighborhoods in Gaza City have been pulverized, leaving thousands homeless. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to climb.
And here’s why I am a bit anxious.
Hamas must have known about the possible repercussions of its actions. It must have anticipated Israel’s reactions. And yet it went out of its way to be as barbaric as possible, decapitating the elderly and children. The attacks almost seemed like a taunt.
The fact that it was willing to sacrifice Gaza City and leave its residents to the mercy of Israeli airstrikes could only point to one of either two things: It has something up its sleeve or it no longer cares what happens to it and its people.
I don’t know which one scares me more.
I just hope and pray that the conflict will end soon, and not escalate. Because, at the end of the day, in war, everybody is the victim.