For Israelis and those of us paying attention, today's move by Hamas was predictable.
On the day Israel dropped its flyers in Arabic into Rafah, informing the innocent civilians seeking refuge there that it was time to move - to seek refuge elsewhere - (complete with maps of where to go to find the humanitarian corridors prepared by Israel), Hamas "accepts" a ceasefire deal. Several headlines I've seen in the past several hours say that Hamas "offered" the ceasefire deal or even "proposed" one.
Today just also happened to be Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, which in my opinion, was one of the most moving days of the year when I lived there. A siren sounds country wide at 10am sharp, and everyone - regardless of where they are - work, in a store, at a cafe, or driving on the highway - everyone just freezes and stands still, thinking of the six million Jews who were systematically rounded up after being "marked" for years, packed into trains like cattle where many of them died before even reaching their "destination," where they were examined upon arrival, separated from family members, and either gassed in showers or killed some other way immediately, or sent to work and starved and allowed to suffer slowly in impossible conditions - much like our hostages in Gaza today.
So it was on this day that Hamas perked up and supposedly said yes to something, and every American network instantly announced, "Hamas accepts Ceasefire Deal; Awaiting Israel's Response."
I went from thrilled to anxious in a matter of seconds, having spent four months in Israel interviewing the families and friends of hostages, but I then sent this "headline" to my friends in Israel with one word: "True?"
I got back varied responses, but most said something like "Manipulation - to get Israel to reject it."
Listen, much of my audience is non-Jewish (and to me this is a good thing), as I am really working to educate the world as much as I can about the realities of Israel's situation and the facts about how this started - "this" meaning 'everything since October 7th,' as regardless of how you feel about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, October 7th had nothing to do with gaining land back or freedom fighting, or any of the other things the Israel haters on college campuses think they are fighting for, as young soldiers die daily in Israel fighting to protect the freedoms these kids are enjoying.
The attack on Israel on October 7th had nothing to do with the "conflict." It had to do with massacring as many Jews as possible in the most violent and horrific ways, and then selling it as "freedom fighting."
Yet because of this responsibility to educate the world about Israel, it has basically been impossible for me to criticize Israel in any way, and to talk about what many in Israel want me to talk about - which is the absolute need to remove Netanyahu from power immediately, and for many crucial reasons.
But out here in the Diaspora we are in a battle of our own, with many Jewish students misguided about Israel and fighting alongside their peers, which makes my blood boil and my skin crawl, so for me to take on the intricacies of the internal struggle in Israel is more or less impossible right now and not what is needed out here, where I feel alone on a raft braving a storm in the middle of the ocean that I had no idea was coming.
Yes, Netanyahu needs to be removed and replaced. Yes, the "King of Security" lost that title after the failures of October 7th that he refuses to take responsibility for and for removing the soldiers from the south in the first place and relying on "technology" in what is known as the "Gaza Envelope." Yes, he was trying to destroy Israel's democracy last year by essentially making his government in charge of the Judicial system to protect himself. Yes, this action caused a great division in Israel and distracted from its crucial task of security, causing several in the reserves to refuse duty for the first time in history in what seemed like a valid rebellion against such an anti-democratic move.
But regardless of the problems with Netanyahu, the need for Israelis to feel a sense of security after 1200 of its civilians were butchered in their homes and at a party - (and when I say butchered, I mean faces cut off, dismembered to the point that one could not tell if they were men or women, babies cooked live in ovens, and many reduced to ashes), the need to feel safe and secure after such a brazen slaughter is sort of important.
This isn't something any other nation would be able to recover from. Had 250 hostages been taken from a party and homes on a Saturday morning in Canada, the world would know names and faces and details. The protests around the world would be about getting these souls in captivity back. Profile pictures would have "temporary filters" of the Canadian flag and there would be a sense of great urgency and an endless outpouring of sympathy.
But it's Israel - and the playbook that has always worked has had years to be rehearsed and perfected and after decades of patience and "grooming" of Western society, Hamas was in the position to pull a "check mate" on Israel today.
So, what was in this "proposal" for a ceasefire by Hamas?
To release 33 (ish) hostages (dead or alive) in exchange for G-d knows how many prisoners, but at least three per hostage as per usual, and to again demand that Israel stop with its mission to ensure its own safety by eliminating - or coming as close to that as possible - Hamas's stronghold in Gaza.
I am starting to wonder if less than 33 hostages of the remaining 132 are even alive, and this thought destroys me, but Israel started off asking for 40 hostages weeks ago and was told "we don't have 40 in 'that category'" (women, children, elderly and sick...) Now they don't have 33 to give back? Have they been killed? Sold? Bartered with other terror groups?
So. On Day 212 of this war, without any proof of life as is supposedly required by international law, no visits from the Red Cross and no medications given to the grandparents being held in there, Israel is just supposed to say "Okay - sure. We don't know if any are alive, but let's commit blindly anyway and agree to your demands, which ignore our ceasefire proposal, which was more than generous."
Um...no.
And so, Israel struck Rafah overnight and killed a Hamas commander, and I dread the blame that will be put on Israel for "refusing" this ceasefire, but I am also growing numb to it.
The only liberal democracy in the Middle East has been forced to take on an impossible fight against a bloodthirsty and ruthless enemy who vows to murder all of us (Jews, not just Israelis). This is not just a fight for Israel. It's a fight for the rights and freedoms we all enjoy and take for granted in the West, yet instead of supporting this "friend" of ours fighting for all of us on the other side of the world, this friend is being fought against, in the name of extreme radical Islamist ideology whose aim is the West's destruction and demise.
Because it's Israel - the Jewish state, and only this one tiny country - which takes 45 minutes to drive across and six hours from top to bottom - only this one country the size of a spec of sand on a world map manages to unite most of the world in rage and vitriol.
And this is how it happened. The Holocaust.
There was no Israeli army then to piss off the world. Did that matter? Did that influence the wrangling of us all over Europe and the world just standing by?
We shouldn't have needed an army after what was done to us. We didn't want to need one, but when you are attacked by your five neighbors on day two of being a nation, things unfortunately become a priority.
It's very simple. Let our people go and surrender. Stop attacking us, and we will stop "retaliating."
As Golda Meir stated, "If we have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we'd rather be alive and have the bad image."
#BRINGTHEMHOME #BRINGTHEMHOMENOW In case you want to help:
This is a labor of love and I feel called to do it, but admit it has started to cost a small fortune, between flights, rent in the US, accommodation in Israel and the building of this website. I have therefore started a GoFundMe in the hopes of getting a little bit of help to stay here another month or two to conduct these interviews with families of hostages and cover the war from the ground. Any donation, no matter how small, will go toward accommodation and bare bone travel expenses. Anything at all will be tremendously helpful and very much appreciated. With gratitude, Melanie
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