The catch phrase running around America right now is something to the effect of “being anti-Zionist isn’t anti-Semitic.” This is completely untrue and logically impossible. Zionism is the belief that Jewish people have the right to have their own state. Some people will say that having an officially religious state is bad, but there are over 50 officially Muslim and 20 officially Christian states in the world. You don’t hear much about how these countries shouldn’t exist (especially since England is one of those officially Christian countries).

Anti-Zionism is expressly anti-Semitic and racist. The Jewish people have every right to live in peace, and the anti-Zionists have made it their goal to prevent that from happening. It’s why they openly support Hamas despite more than a decade of illegal and terroristic operations.

The simple truth is that the majority of the world still hates the Jews, and they’ll go to any lengths to see Hitler’s genocide finished. This is obvious when you study the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

Another Attack

Hamas and Israel have traded blows for decades. This isn’t political rhetoric; the two governments have exchanged military fire off and on since Hamas first came into power.

In recent years, the intensity of exchanges and death tolls had been relatively small, but Hamas decided to obliterate the standing peace. Protests against the Hamas government in the Gaza strip began to get heated, so Hamas decided the best course of action was to attack Israel. It started with bombs carried by balloons. That escalated into exchanges of gunfire between the IDF and Hamas fighters, and things eventually spiraled into rocket attacks and airstrikes.

When the fighting finally lulled, Hamas had launched over 600 rockets at Israeli civilians, and the IDF had responded with multiple airstrikes. Four Israelis citizens have been reported dead so far, with many more wounded. 12 Palestinians are confirmed dead, and at least 4 of them have been identified as Hamas agents.

This might seem like a battle between two governments. That’s not true. In reality, Hamas attacked Israel completely unprovoked, and Israel’s responses were met with increased violence from the Gaza Strip. One of these groups was clearly the aggressor, and the other was clearly acting in defense of citizens.

The Rules of War

Here’s the thing. There are international agreements on what constitutes legal military action. Those rules are loosely enforced by international coalition forces, but the rules themselves are pretty clear. The attack Hamas leveled at Israel is by all definitions a declaration of war. Israel is fully within their sovereign rights to invade the Gaza Strip and completely depose Hamas.

If you have any doubts, think of it this way. Imagine if a Mexican cartel launched rockets across the border and killed American citizens. We would immediately demand the Mexican government go full force against that cartel, and we would offer our own military resources to completely destroy that enemy.

Imagine an even more extreme (but obviously hypothetical) example. What if the Mexican government launched rockets at American settlements? They would be completely deposed within the week. We would launch a full-scale invasion of Mexico, and we would take over their governing for the foreseeable future. There’s no way America would ever tolerate this kind of attack against her citizens.

Yet, Israel has endured continued attacks by Hamas since 2007. Actually, they’ve endured attacks for longer, but Hamas has only officially been the ruling party in Gaza since 2007.

Israel is clearly within their rights to depose Hamas. Why haven’t they? The answer is simple: international anti-Semitism.

When you read about this most recent attack, you’ll probably see the phrase “disproportionate response,” or some variation. The anti-Semites will condemn Israel for having a more effective military than Hamas. This is of course ridiculous. If Hamas had the power to do so, they would eradicate Israel completely. In response to that threat, Israel shows more restraint than any other military in the world.

Here’s some perspective. The United States follows the second-strictest rules of engagement of any military (after Israel). If you look at our battles with terrorists, a lot more than 12 people die. Cities are levelled and communities suffer. But, the United States military is not at fault by international rules.

Instead, the terrorists who hide among civilians bear responsibility. This is pretty obvious, but it’s also clearly laid out in international law. A military force is responsible for making themselves clearly distinguishable from unarmed civilians. This is why uniforms are employed by every non-terrorist military in the world. If you don’t make that effort, then you’re responsible for the deaths of civilians.

Despite all of this, Israel is condemned by the majority of nations on earth, even while showing more restraint than any other military, only because anti-Semitism is still rampant.

The Right Response

We already know how the United States would respond in a similar situation. We also know that most sovereign nations would act similarly. No European country is entertaining attacks to their populations by foreign governments (except maybe Ukraine). The same holds true in Asia, Africa and South America. Expecting tolerance from Israel at this point isn’t just ridiculous; it’s evil.

The right course of action is for every supporter of Israel to be as loud as possible. Give the IDF the confidence to do the right thing without fear of international backlash. Hamas will continue to kill innocent civilians without provocation until they are removed by force. Israel has the power and right. It is only with international support that they can find the will.

It is long past time for Israel to completely destroy Hamas and give the people of the Gaza Strip the chance to finally live in peace and freedom of tyranny.

Drown out the lies of the anti-Semitic media and international propagandists. Make sure everyone knows the truth. Perhaps, if we share stories like this far and wide enough, we can show Israel the level of support they need to finally do the right thing.