I’ve been struggling with Gaza. (Welcome to the club, I suppose.) As heartsick and horrified as I am about the evil visited upon Israel on October 7, I don’t wish innocents/non-combatants to be caught in the crossfire, even while I recognize that Israel must respond forcefully to defend itself, and that collateral damage from that is inevitable. 

And yet, I’m not feeling the compulsion to call for a ceasefire or a pause. I do want Israel to abide by the laws of war — to do what it can to minimize civilian casualties. I don’t want evil to beget evil. 

I think I finally figured out what’s prompting my hesitancy here, though: In all the calls for a ceasefire and laments about the people of Gaza, I’m not seeing genuine condemnation of what Hamas did. At best, I’m seeing a dismissive wave of the hand and generic condemnation of violence…before launching into a list of grievances on behalf of Gaza. 

I’m not seeing advocacy for Israel’s right to exist. I’m not seeing genuine sorrow for the lives lost, the broken bodies and hearts, the people taken hostage. It’s all skipped right over, if not outright denied. It makes me want to scream: If you don’t want innocent people to die in Gaza then flippin’ STOP HAMAS! Turn on THEM — THEY’RE the bad guys here. THEY did this. 

If you can’t stand up and unequivocally denounce what happened October 7, then I can’t take anything you say seriously. 

This “Moore to the Point” commentary aired on NewsTalkSTL on Friday, November 3. Audio included below.