As of May 2024, nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been murdered by the Israeli government. Nearly all of these lives were innocents. About 14,000 of these lives were children. There is absolutely no excuse or justification for this fact. The fact of the matter is as follows:
Since its foundation ~70 years go, the nation of Israel has dedicated itself in part to the extermination of the Palestinian people regional to the area. This has never ceased to be true. Today, and since October 7th 2023, we see another example of Israel's commitment to genocide. The far right Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu has a near-outright bloodthirst for children. They want all Palestinians dead and they will not stop until there is nothing but rubble left in Gaza. Then, they will move on to the West Bank. Anyone who challenges the idea that the West Bank is safe from occupation because Hamas does not reside there is woefully unaware of the reality of the situation. Although presently the bulk of Israel's occupation is focused on Gaza, they have countless times aggressed on the West Bank. Hamas exists in part as a result of Israel's effort to prevent the spread of the PLO to Gaza, to keep Palestinian people from uniting effectively in resistance.
It is FALSE that if Hamas laid down their arms, this conflict would end. This is false because the bulk of the conflict has not been directed at Hamas, it has been completely undirected. Israel chooses to intentionally level Gaza with indiscriminant bombing. This is not the strategy of a military force trying to fight an enemy in a populated civilian area. It is the strategy of genocide.
So what is the solution? Two-state? One-state? Frankly, I don't know. I know there will only be peace once ISRAEL commits to a cease-fire, and when ISRAEL commits to allowing Palestinians in Gaza the same rights and access to the democratic process as Israeli citizens. The current state of affairs is a one-state solution. Israel is one state, and it has chosen to abandon millions of its citizens in Gaza and the West Bank in the name of 'autonomy.' What a sick joke.
The only reason Hamas exists and commits terror attacks is because Israel has raised a generation of Palestinians without families, without food and water and basic human respect. Of course this generation has been driven to acts of terror, because Israel has terrorized them and their family daily for generations. Additionally, this radicalization process has been inflamed by Israel as Israel has destroyed every attempt by Palestinians to direct their suffering and agitation towards effective organization. They bomb Gaza until all that is left is guns and hate and pain. Israel has the power to stop the violence, and they choose instead to kill indiscriminantly. Our country (the United States) refuses to revoke funding and support, we enable the genocide. Any rational humane actor will conclude that this genocide must be stopped by any means necessary. I must add that wanton terror against Israeli civilians is NOT an efffective means to stop the genocide. It is a war crime. It is a war crime when Israel does it by the tens of thousands, and it is a war crime when Hamas does it by the hundreds. For this reason, I cannot include wanton terror within 'any means necessary.' Wanton terror is not a necessary means. I can include many other forms of resistance, some of which are violent. Sometimes occupation and oppression must be resisted violently. Our founding fathers understood this very well when they violently resisted the British government. They added a Second Amendment to our constitution to enshrine our right to maintain arms in the event that our government must be violently resisted. I say, this issue is the same. I say to you, reader: