Want me to beg you to side with Israel? Fuggedaboutit

This is what 'Never Again' means. Get over it.

There is not enough Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, email, or WhatsApp to change one mind about which side to support in the Gaza War.

Those who identify with the Islamist cause, the Palestinian Arabs, global socialism, the woke of various hues, and their strange bedfellows, white supremacists – and a not insignificant number of Jewish apostates and quislings – will do everything in their power to save Hamas from destruction.

They will send around dead baby pictures but not a single image of an Islamist launching a rocket or shooting an automatic weapon. They do not want to end Gaza’s suffering by calling on Hamas leaders to crawl out of their million-dollar sewers. Do the honorable thing and give up. Hands up. White flag. Save their people from further suffering. Face the firing squad. Collect their 72 virgins. 

They will not blame Hamas for the humanitarian plight in the Strip. For placing command centers below hospitals, weapons stockpiles in mosques, and only Allah knows what they have hidden in UNWRA buildings. 

In the pro-Hamas narrative, this war began when we hit them back. 

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And then there is us. Much fewer in number. 

Israelis from across the political and religious spectrum, pro-Israel Diaspora Jews, and neo-Jews -unaffiliated types, like liberals and the woke mugged by the reality of the past several weeks. Some folks who never saw themselves as Israel-centric.

Plus, non-Jewish Philo-semites of various hues. And Christian Zionists.

That more or less covers our side. Did I forget somebody?

We need to keep telling each other our message. Because we are swimming in an overwhelmingly anti-Israel, let’s face it, anti-Jewish sea. Our safety is threatened. Attempted pogroms at airports and in business districts. Marchers outside our windows with blood in their eyes and venom in their throats.

We hunker down, awaiting terrorist attacks against our institutions.

In that context, we must remind ourselves that we are in a zero-sum conflict. It is either Israel or Hamas. It is either Israel or Islamic Jihad. Both Islamist groups exist not to build on Palestinian Arab autonomy but to destroy the Jewish state. There is no compromise with Hamas, with Islamic Jihad, with ISIS, with militant Islamism.

Hamas is responsible for the safety of its citizens – Israel is not.

Hamas hides behind Arab civilians. Al Jazeera covers for it. Qatar is the paymaster of both. Both discourage the innocents from leaving danger zones. Hamas controls Gaza’s health authority and hospitals. No one speaks publicly to the media in Gaza without the tacit approval of Hamas.

Hamas carried over 200 Israelis and others into captivity – men, women, and children. 

Hamas butchered hundreds of innocent civilians and first responders.

Since day one of the war, Hamas has never stopped launching rockets at our civilian population, forcing the evacuation of Israeli towns and villages. The upheaval they unleashed has caused terrible internal dislocation in Israel.

Hamas has destroyed our tourism and is intent on devastating our economy, including the high-tech sector.

Behind Hamas stands Iran. Then Russia, China, Turkey, and North Korea. Plus, Pakistan and most of the Muslim and Arab world. Did I mention Qatar?

Western countries are wobbly at best in their support for Israel. Most are hypocritical. They say we have a right to defend ourselves. Yet they know the constraints they place on us make overcoming Hamas impossible. 

Most EU countries either abstained or voted against us at the UN General Assembly this past Saturday. I get it. They don't want the streets of Berlin, London, and Paris to explode.

Under the guise of humanitarian intervention, they want to see Hamas fight another day. Under the guise of a ceasefire, they want to see Hamas fight another day.

During WWII, no one held a stopwatch to Churchill and Roosevelt. No one told them to be mindful that only card-carrying Nazis get hurt. No one warned them not to be disproportionate. Because everyone understood they had to win or the world would be benighted. Collateral damage is unavoidable since the enemy uses its own population as human shields. 

No. At this point, I will not try to convince anyone to side with us. People have made their moral beds. Let them be known forever by which side they chose. 

You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

“Stop the killing on both sides” is a dribble you say to cover your ass. It's bullshit.

There ain’t no neutral here. There ain’t no crawling into a hole and waiting for the unpleasantness to pass. 

It’s judgment time in the adult leagues.

Meantime, all we can do is give each other strength, support one another, and maybe cut each other a bit of slack.

And we must – each in our way – fight on. Fight on until Hamas and Islamic Jihad are wiped out.

This is what Never Again means.