Israel Killed Hundreds of Civilians to Save Four of Its Own
Last Saturday, Israel massacred hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an operation to rescue four Israeli hostages. American commentators rushed to justify the brutal operation.
Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed buildings following an operation by the Israeli Special Forces in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2024. (Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images)
Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs was sitting on a beach in Tel Aviv last Saturday when a lifeguard announced that four hostages had been rescued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). She described the scene in an article for Bari Weiss’s Free Press:
The cheers were immediate and ecstatic. People threw their children into the air. Strangers hugged strangers. Many openly wept. The clapping and singing and dancing spread all the way down the beach.
It’s not hard to comprehend the reaction. The seizing of random civilians as hostages is a disturbing war crime, and it’s understandable that people who identified with the victims would joyously celebrate their return home.
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