Henry Idema: A Christian response to 'Israel at war'

I, like any normal human being, was horrified by the slaughter of men, women, and children by Hamas on Oct. 7. As Christians we are instructed by Jesus to turn the other cheek when assaulted, and he warned us that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. History gives us much data that killing begets more killing, but history also warns us that unchecked aggression leads to even more tragic consequences, as we saw with Hitler and are now seeing with Putin.

There are so many observations to be made about the conflict between Israel and Hamas that instead of writing a short article on one or two observations, I will simply list a bundle of bullet points I would use in a classroom if I were still teaching in a church or college.

1. All the networks are covering this war under the heading "Israel at war," which is an unbalanced approach to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel that goes back to 1948 and well before that. So my first point is we need to look historically at both sides of this conflict. C-Span is giving us a more balanced approach. So my first point is we must evaluate what we see on network TV with critical thinking. And we must be skeptical of what we read on the internet.

2. There is no justification or defense for the purposeful slaughter of innocent men, women and children that we saw on Oct. 7. None!

3. However, although there is no justification for what Hamas did on Oct. 7, there are reasons, historically, for this rage — 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in 1948 when the state of Israel was created, land disputes, especially in the West Bank, remain a hot issue. There is a long history of sins on both the part of Israel and the Palestinians. Injustices are no excuse for atrocities. Injustices, however, have a long history in this part of the world, and we should pay attention and learn about this history. Gaza looks like a large prison camp. Sadly, the Arab countries have not been nearly as helpful as they could, especially the oil-rich countries. I am not sure these countries even like the Palestinians. As someone said on TV, the Arabs will fight Israel down to the last Palestinian.

4. Hamas is a terrorist organization. As one of my Jewish friends told me, in their eyes "the only good Jew is a dead Jew." Hamas, on Oct. 7, did unspeakable evil acts. Evil must be eradicated, which means Hamas must be eliminated. Hamas has treated its own people in horrible ways. They use them as shields in war. They have used the money they receive from Iran and other countries largely for arms, not schools, hospitals and food. More children died from digging all the tunnels under Gaza than from Israel's bombing, which is obviously no justification for this bombing.

5. Which brings up a question I can't answer: Why did Israel give the Palestinians warnings to move south before the invasion, but in the meantime, when waiting for them to leave, why did Israel start to bomb Gaza? Why didn't Israel give the Palestinians plenty of time to leave before the daily bombing? Many men, women and children have died because of this bombing. This is tragic and breaks my heart, as my heart was broken on Oct. 7. The killing of children is especially painful to see, killed before their lives have really begun.

6. All this killing brings up just war theory in the Christian tradition. In just war theory, self-defense is justified, so Israel has the right to retaliate for the events of Oct. 7. But in just war theory, the retaliation must be proportional to the violence that started the conflict. I fear Israel might be guilty of overkill. There is collateral killing in a war, which means Israel is not killing people on purpose when targeting military installations. In contrast, the killing by Hamas on Oct. 7 was planned murder, rape and maiming. However, the end result is still the same. You are dead or wounded. In face of such mayhem, just war theory seems rather heartless and academic.

7. I fear the planned invasion will not only end up with thousands of soldiers and civilians being killed but also I fear the hostages will not survive. Wouldn't it be better not to invade until all the hostages are released — even if this takes a very long time? This would also give more time for Palestinians to leave the war zone and more time for aid to enter Gaza.

8. A warning: An eye for an eye leaves both people blind, as Gandhi warned. I also think Jesus' warning about violence leading to more violence will remain true in this war. I do not see how peaceful co-existence can happen in the near future after all the violence that has occurred thus far. A two-state solution must be part of the eventual peace treaty, but Hamas does not want this. The Palestinian people must reject Hamas. The student pro-Palestinian demonstrations at our colleges and those in our cities must differentiate between Hamas and the Palestinian people. Hamas is evil, the Palestinian people as a whole are not evil. They simply want to live in peace and have opportunities for themselves and their families.

9. Tribalism and religion divide us. How do we overcome these divisions?

10. Hamas' main goal is the obliteration of Israel and its replacement by an Islamic society. How can Israel live side by side with a people who want to destroy you?

Jesus, being a Jew, welcomed the stranger, which is central to his religious tradition. His way was the way of peace and love. He taught us to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. He taught us to heal the sick, and care for those who hold different religious views, as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. My hope is Lincoln's hope, that the better angels of our nature will prevail over the social and psychological forces which lead to war,  divisions and hatred.

— Henry Idema lives in Grand Haven. He can be reached at henryidema3@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Henry Idema: A Christian response to 'Israel at war'