It’s been almost 8 weeks that I have hesitated to post my feelings on the 7 October Massacre.. OR to the reaction of most of the world to the Israel-Hamas war.

The first issue to recall is the there WAS a cease fire in effect between Hamas and Israel.  It was Hamas who broke the long-lasting ceasefire.

The second issue to recall is that Hamas’ charter and public vow are to kill every last Jew.  They won’t stop until they achieve that goal.

The third issue to recall is that to Hamas a dead Jew is a win, a Palestinian killed by a Jew is a slightly bigger win, and to have a baby killed by the Jews is a really big win.  As an example, the Hamas leader, Khaled Mashal, stated that they are willing to make a sacrifice of many Palestinians for their cause.

Nevertheless, we all must recognize that only way out of this quagmire is the establishment of a two state solution; one for the Jews (and whoever wished to live there) and the other for the Palestinians.   It is probable that the Palestinian state will be demilitarized, with security guarantees for both it and Israel.  (This is also the thoughts of Abel Fattah al Sissi (the president of Egypt, among other Arab leaders.)

Most of the Arab nations have rejected the idea that they will provide security for the nascent nation. They want nothing to do with Gaza.  So, that force will have to be a NATO-like force or perhaps a UN run one.

And, now, let’s get close up and personal.

It was devastating to see thousands of Americans and throngs of  university students marching under the flag of Hamas.  That denotes the negation of the existence of the Jews and Israel, as well as the slaughter (rape, beheading, burning of victims) on 7 October.

Their demands  for a cease fire- as if it were Israel was the nation that broke the cease fire that obtained until 7 October- that continues as the head of Hamas vows to keep killing Jews nonstop.

What is the point of a cease fire then?  So that only more Jews should die even after they were attacked?

I, and most Jews, don’t want another Palestinian to be killed or wounded- but realistically  that means they need to be evacuated from the active war zone.  We Americans didn’t demand the Germans evacuate where we were bombing their country or any of the Japanese areas that were destroyed by us.

An alternative to Hamas needs to be developed for Gaza region.  That probably means that negotiations between Abu Abbas in the West Bank and other potential Palestinian leaders with Israel need to begin again.

But, we all must recognize that there is no simple solution.

Moreover, we must address the elephant in the room.  The construct that there are millions of Palestinian refugees is highly problematic.  We will discuss this tomorrow.