Israel-Hamas War, Part V: An Israeli horror film and the hostages

Call it a dark sense of humour. Call it cynicism. Call it desperation. Whatever it is, Israel is pulling no stops in getting our hostages back home.

Israeli authorities cannot release to the public the Hamas horror film (40-something minutes long) as it is reserved for journalists and world leaders who otherwise might “forget” that the atrocities really were committed and by whom. Should they forget that, they will beg Israel to desist from killing the killers by reminding them that their actions in Gaza put them at risk of committing war crimes.

Oops. That happened already very quickly. But it did not work.

Since they did not succeed in getting Israel to stop the war this time, they will appeal to Israel’s humanitarian side by showing crying Gazan babies and mothers.

Hmmm. That did not work either.

Since that was insufficient, and, because Israel cannot show the crying Israeli babies and mothers held hostage because even the Red Cross could not get to check up on them and sneak out a photo or two, the world will parade around holding up terrorist flags and shouting “Gas the Jews!”

Should that not work in getting Israel to be ready to negotiate a ceasefire …. ah wait!

They did succeed in that already.

First, there have been four-hour ceasefires in which innocent Gazans — those who supposedly did not rejoice when told of the atrocities of those they voted to rule over them instead of the PLO and those who supposedly did not cheer as Israeli hostages and dead were carted around for their entertainment as if it was a Christmas parade — were allowed to march south to safety, escorted by the IDF, even as Hamas guns tried to prevent them from doing so. And IDF soldiers called out in Hebrew, hoping that Israeli hostages who may be among those being led away from the war zone would be able to break free of their captors and run into their arms.

And now, as of tomorrow, there will be a four-day ceasefire, that Hamas may be able to stretch out longer if it plays its cards right, in order to give back 50 of Israel’s stolen women and children. And that is not even ALL of the stolen women and children. Maybe 50 is the number of those still alive because the deal includes only those who are alive.

But at least the Red Cross will now be allowed to check up on all the hostages and give them medical attention. Something international law demands unless it is on behalf of the Jewish state. Never mind the fact that Israel treats Hamas terrorists, if no longer in our public hospitals, then in prison infirmaries. Never mind the fact that the Red Cross has always had open access to check up on Hamas terrorists who watch movies and football matches, bake pita and have haflot, and enjoy visits from their families in Israeli prisons. So Israel had to agree to a four-day ceasefire to get what she should have had by right and by law without caving in.

Because Israel is a sabra — you know the prickly pear fruit of the cactus that grows like weeds in this country: prickly on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside — because Israel is a sabra, because Israel cares about the lives of each and every hostage, Jewish and Arab and the foreigners who came to study and work among us, the IDF could not just march into Gaza and take down everything Hamas built and everyone who cheered because doing so risked killing the hostages along with the terrorists. Because of this, we agreed to a ceasefire to let some of our people out.

And now, when they come out — ten or so per day of ceasefire (ah! the cynicism behind that decision) — Israel and the world will be flooded with happy scenes. Israelis will whoop with joy at each and every released hostage and the hugs of their families. Some in the world will celebrate with us and the social media and the pages of newspapers will be covered with their photos.

Those who hate us will rejoice at the release of terrorist women and minors who tried to kill Jews but failed in the attempt so supposedly have no blood on their hands because the blood of the injured is less red. And photos of their family reunions and the parties that will be thrown in their honour in their villages will feature on the social media and news sites of all: those who support us and those who hate us.

And these images may replace those of the atrocities, the only thing that provides Israel with the legitimacy, in the eyes of the world, to wipe out Hamas.

So Israel came up with a solution to not being able to release the entire horror film to the general public: post the material in manageable bites that readers can view at their own pace and return to when they can take it, to remind themselves that this was done to real people and, even though these people are Jews, they do deserve to protect themselves from having it done to them again and again as Hamas has promised to do until it – Hamas — is destroyed or Israel is destroyed.

Not for the Faint of Heart: Israeli-Run https://t.co/yEEO8Z0UXg Shares Uncensored Images of October 7 Atrocities – @JewishPress – https://t.co/gXalATzjoX pic.twitter.com/A2oP7FtiHS

— JewishPress.com (@JewishPress) November 21, 2023

Pick your side. Because there is no nuance here — one is evil and one is (well, not always) good (but we do try).

And let us hope that four or more days of ceasefire do not destroy our momentum or our morale nor diminish our drive to continue this war until a clear victory is achieved.

Feature Image Credit: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons