Some people have been raising their voices since October 7 as a sign of support for the "Palestinian struggle." Some people marched in silence last Sunday, without chanting slogans, forbidding themselves to support "one camp" at the expense of another. I, myself, support Israel.
Like the well-meaning men and women, members of the "Another Voice" collective who marched on Sunday "for unity and peace," I mourn the deaths of every civilian in this terrible war.
And the human rights fighter in me - who spent an entire chapter of his life warning about the bitter fate of the Uyghurs, the Chechens, the besieged Bosnians, the Darfuris and the Tutsi who underwent genocide, of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who were slaughtered because of the indifference of the countries of the world, of the countless victims of forgotten wars in the world, and of course also of the thousands of Palestinians who were exterminated by their Jordanian "brothers" who were ostracized by their Egyptian "guards", Sacrificed by their "sister" countries from the Arab-Muslim world, just as by the despicable leaders of the Palestinian movements, the same human rights defender is shocked, indeed, by the intolerable images coming to us from Gaza.
Look who's in favor of Hamas
But I support Israel because Hamas wanted this war, and unfortunately there is no other choice but to fight it to the fullest. I support Israel because it is dealing with a union of forces that begins with Hamas and Hezbollah and reaches the Houthis in Yemen. A joining of forces that will expand if it achieves, even by chance, a semi-victory in the form of a ceasefire without releasing the hostages.
Hamas leader Haniyeh, photo: Reuters
I support Israel because I know that behind these forces lurk the powerful Iran (which finances them), the mighty Russia (the only country that respectfully hosted those responsible for the October 7 pogrom), and in a certain sense Turkey as well (after all, Erdogan said in front of the Turkish parliament that Israel is "accursed, a terrorist state, whose fascistism questions the legitimacy of its existence").
I support Israel because China, through its Foreign Minister Wang Yi, has so far made do with declaring that Israel's behavior "undermines the concept of good and evil and the basic principles of humanity" (no less!).
But China, in turn, is a step away from taking action and reforming against the only democracy in the region, to an alliance tied against Ukraine, and becoming itself the greatest challenge ever faced with peace and freedom in the world (one can feel revulsion towards Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, and this is my case, but how can one turn a blind eye to the real colonialism today, to the truly terrible imperialism that attacks everywhere, to the nostalgia of the Chinese empires, Persian, Arabic, Ottoman and Russian?).
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Photo: AP
I support Israel because this is not an ordinary war, the purpose of which is to liberate a certain territory (it seems that we must repeat this over and over again: since 2005, and for the first time in its history, the Gaza Strip has been free of all protection; the Palestinian Authority could have turned the Gaza Strip into the cradle of the future Palestinian state), but rather an all-out war (the purpose of which - the purpose of which - yes, words have only one meaning! - to eliminate the entire Jewish presence in this region of the Middle East
, "From the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan").
There is no other army like this
I support Israel because I have covered many conflicts, most notably documenting the liberation of Mosul, ISIS's capital, for the French channel ARTE in 2016 and 2017.
I have never seen an army dealing with the tragic and constant presence of civilians in combat zones, an army taking so many preventive measures to declare its attacks and leave residents time to evacuate the neighborhoods that will be attacked; An army escorting them along the humanitarian corridor, which remains open every day, six hours a day, on Salah Ad Din Road, as their leaders stand in their way, turning them into human shields.
I support Israel because I arrived the day after the events of October 7 to kibbutzim that had undergone a pogrom; I spoke at length with the families of the abductees and with IDF soldiers who were preparing to enter Gaza; I interrogated my fellow peacemakers just like the heads of state; I also listen to people in the United States and Europe who are horrified by the sight of destroyed Gaza, but convinced that Hamas must be eliminated; But I have found no one, anywhere, capable of proposing a method quite different from the one dictated by the War Cabinet in the Kirya to achieve this strategic goal.
Finally, I support Israel because the necessary condition for the liberation of the Palestinians and the establishment of peace between them and Israel is the elimination of Hamas' harmful influence. Of course, there are other conditions.
Netanyahu's government needs to change its approach. Civil society, which gathered every Saturday before the war in increasing numbers, needs to take the initiative. But the precondition for all this, bitter as it may be, is nothing but Israel's victory.
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