I am haunted by the deaths of children in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of these non-combatant residents of a tiny enclave where there is no safe place to go have died during the Israeli military incursion. Any sane person should condemn the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Any reasonable person should understand that the excessive response by the IDF on behalf of the state of Israel in no way justifies the rise in anti-Jewish words and actions. And any person committed to compassion and justice should condemn the deaths of these children and the governments of the world, including Canada and the United States who offer meaningless condemnations of the deaths of civilians while continuing to supply arms and aid to Israel.
While the number of children killed has fluctuated in this chaotic scenario the total probably exceeds 14,000, according to the United Nations. We have heard of children being burned to death when the IDF bombed a tent city. I saw the photograph of a child lying dead, next to his bicycle, in an alley, shot by a sniper. The Atlantic Magazine published a piece which justifies the murders of children with the phrase "legally killed child." This is shameful, blasphemous, a moral outrage. I would agree with the lament of Joel Kim Booster.
When we were in Israel last year we saw young soldiers everywhere, men and women who were in their late teens and early twenties. They were in carefree conversations on trains or while walking on streets. Now these young people barely beyond childhood are killing kids. You may have seen photos of young soldiers goofing around on childrens' bikes in bombed areas of Gaza. How many of those bicycles belonged to children who lie under rubble or have been hastily buried? Their souls are being destroyed whether they know it or not.
There are times when I want to weep and times when I am furious. In God's name, enough.
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