It’s ironic that so many on the Left, who claim to be anti-war and humanitarian, have aligned themselves with Hamas against Israel in the current conflict. Exactly who wants to support an authoritarian, brutally intolerant, aggressively militaristic, misogynistic “government” that practices terror, sacrificing the welfare of its civilians by dedicating resources to unrelenting attacks on a neighboring state, in the process using its own civilians as human shields? Just who are their vocal supporters? And those who denigrate the Israeli effort to defend themselves? They are naive peacenik wanna-bes and, of course, a large contingent of anti-Semites, some of whom pose as peace lovers.

An intellectually honest peace lover will recognize that there is nothing inconsistent about loving peace and making a concerted effort to destroy an aggressive, attacking force. A good government must protect its people.

There were some interesting notes on the Hamas-Israeli conflict from David Bernstein at the Volokh Conspiracy over the weekend. His major points were: the conditions of Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposed cease fire were ridiculous and conflicted with Kerry’s earlier assurances; the casualty figures being reported by the media are coming from sources controlled by Hamas; the “humanitarian” deliveries of concrete to Gaza were diverted to the construction of tunnels for military use.

Here is an illuminating post covering human rights in Gaza under Hamas, from Freedom House. A key quote from the final paragraph.

Under Hamas, personal status law is derived almost entirely from Sharia, which puts women at a stark disadvantage in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and domestic abuse. Rape, domestic abuse, and “honor killings,” in which relatives murder women for perceived sexual or moral transgressions, are common, and these crimes often go unpunished.

Can we call this civilization? Barbarism is more accurate. Warning: 14 Ways Hamas Weaponizes Palestinian Women, Children and Animals Against Israel contains some shocking photos and videos. First, it quotes the first Hamas Charter of 1988, defining the Hamas Mission Against Israel and Jews: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” The charter goes on to quote The Prophet, Allah: “The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” The link documents what can only be described as crimes against humanity by Hamas: using children to commit stone attacks, sending women and children on suicide missions, using civilians, women and children as human shields, weaponizing: animals, homes, schools, hospitals, ambulances and mosques.

We can persist in hoping that some middle ground can be found between the Israelis and the Palestinian people, but that is unlikely to happen with Hamas in charge of the Gaza Strip. In Lift the Siege On Gaza, the Israeli author makes an eloquent case that Israel must work toward opening the border with Gaza, but he recognizes that Hamas stands as a major obstacle to real peace.