As an Israeli that cares for life regardless of nationality, this is an issue that I deeply struggle with. So do note that I’m not objective here, and yet I do care about objectiveness and try to stick to facts and objective ethical considerations.
Also, me being part of the situation means that I know about it more than an average person that does not live in Israel, so I hope to contribute to the discussion.
Before I share my ideas about supporting Gaza civilians, I want to share some of the points that should be considered here.
First point is that there are more than 2 sides in this equation.
Israel can and should be seen as one side. It is democratic, and therefore the government accurately represents the people.
Gaza includes 2 groups of people—the Palestinian civilians and Hamas organization. Hamas is an evil ISIS-inspired terrorist organization that officially aims to eliminate Israel and acts in the most evil methods imaginable. Since 2006, Hamas controls Gaza by force. It does have a strong support from many of its people, yet often the interests of the organization are contradictory to those of the civilians, and in these cases Hamas has the upper hand.
How evil is Hamas? Let’s see some examples. I present them because the methods of Hamas dictate what can and can’t be done to truly help the civilians, as long as Hamas controls the area.
Hamas uses (Palestinian) women and children as human shields. Israel asked and demanded civilians to move to the south of Gaza as the northern part of the strip became a war zone. Hamas blocked the road south and ordered civilians to stay. Hamas attacks from the underground of hospitals and other civilian areas—forcing Israel to harm civilians in its goal to fight Hamas.
Since Hamas controls Gaza, they can prioritize military goals over humanitarian ones. Any aid that goes to the people in Gaza will first go to Hamas. For example, any fuel supplied to Gaza is first used for activities such as firing rockets, and not for moving people to safety.
There are still hostages held in Gaza in unknown conditions. Some of them women, children, elderly and even babies. IMO this cannot be normalized even in the best conditions possible.
Hamas has relationships with other terror organizations such as Hezbollah. That is another reason why negotiating with Hamas will lead to more harm; If Hamas is not “punished” for its horrendous actions, it will signal other enemies of Israel that Israel will not punish them as well, and that attacking the country will be worth the price—especially if they don’t play by the humane rules.
Understand that any international pressure on Israel to help civilians that ignores Hamas’s illegitimate methods and the fact the hostages are still held captive, plays into the hands of Hamas, encouraging them to worsen the lives of Palestinians and hostages in Gaza, as it benefits their military purposes.
Now that we understand how evil is Hamas and how hard it is to help civilians without helping Hamas instead, here are two thoughts about helping Palestinians in Gaza:
I considered recommending about MSF—Doctors without Borders organization. But it’s complicated, and I currently believe it to be non-effective, at least for the current conflict.
MSF were already in Gaza before October 7th, giving medical aid and improving the humanitarian situation. A bit after the war started they decided to move to the southern area and help from there. The fact that they are already familiar with Gaza, and probably understand the complexity and risks, encouraged me to support their activity. This organization was also discussed in the previous forum about this topic.
However, aside from their work on-site, it seems they are using pro-Hamas terminology in their messages to the press, encouraging Israel to cease fire unconditionally and allow fuel and supplies to enter Gaza, regardless the risks and considerations I mentioned above.
I believe that donating to MSF won’t get more doctors in Gaza, but rather amplify the voice of those who side with Hamas’s interests. It might allow them to get more resources for future causes, which I think can be okay. But it’s hard for me to say where the money would go to inside this global organization, and whether it will be worth the risk of amplifying Hamas’s voice.
2. Currently—no countries allow Palestinian refugees from Gaza to enter. I don’t know of an organization that presses or encourages countries to do so, and I think that if countries would allow Palestinian refugees (especially Egypt) it could drastically help the civilians to temporarily escape the unimaginable reality in the area.
Obviously, nothing here is easy. Most countries would probably not crack under any pressure to allow more refugees in these times. But maybe some will, and if so, the I believe that the technicalities will be sorted out quickly enough.
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Obviously, temporarily relocating thousands of Palestinians, most of them innocent, is not the most ideal or tractable thing to hope for, and many will not find it sufficient to ease their conscience even if it did happen. But I currently don’t have better realistic ideas, as I’ve come to believe that in the long term, nothing good will come of (unintentionally) helping Hamas. To anyone.
Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that cares about their God and their land more than it cares about life, is aware of the values of liberals, and uses them against us.
It does not mean we should let the sufferings reach infinity before we help Hamas—we can’t completely lose our values. But we have to be smart and aware of Hamas’s devious strategy & tactics, and foresee its reaction to our aid.
Totally agree with you on your last point. When it comes to spreading the ideas of EA to the public, they can get stuck on the movement’s vibe instead of embracing the ideas behind it.