BY GERRY CHIDIAC
Lessons in Learning
Before the genocide in Gaza began three years ago, I had no difficulty getting my opinion editorials published. Some readers reacted negatively to what I wrote, and others agreed with me. That was normal; such dialogue is an important element of a free press in a democratic society.
Since October 2023, it has been extremely difficult for me to get published in the Canadian mainstream media. I’ve turned largely to self-publishing on social media sites like Substack. I also post short videos about my articles and continue to link my work to my website. Despite my efforts, I know that my readership has decreased significantly.
Why then do I continue to put in the effort to write a column every week?
I recognize that we are going through a watershed moment in human history; I therefore need to bear witness to what is happening. I know this because I study history.
Recently, the U.S. National Archives made confiscated Nazi Party membership cards available to the public. It took more than 80 years for many Germans to find out the truth about what their ancestors did during that dark chapter.
The uncomfortable truth for many who are living through this moment is that in the future, their words and actions, or lack thereof, will be easily accessible. Anyone who does not recognize the significance of the current shift in global hegemony is extremely naïve. Just like millions of Germans have gone online to find out what their grandparents or great-grandparents did or did not do, our descendants will analyze the lives of the heroes and villains of the Gaza Genocide.
Powerful people in powerful countries are trying to de-legitimize the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, but due to the courage of the officials associated with these courts, these efforts are unlikely to be successful. The gruesome details of the suffering in Gaza, Lebanon, and the entire region will be laid bare, along with the names of those responsible.
The names of people who spoke out, were cancelled, lost their jobs, were arrested for speaking out, were tortured, and who died will also be made known.
What about everyone else?
Nearly three years into the genocide, the mainstream media in Canada still equates opposition to the actions of the United States and the State of Israel with antisemitism. We need to recognize that, given the almost inevitable backlash to the cruelty of these states, this puts all Jewish people at significant risk of racist reprisals.
The other factor to consider is the failure of those in positions of power and influence. The actions by decision makers in education, unions, industry, sports, the media, etc., to discourage or prevent people from speaking out for Palestine will be known. As much as they try, these individuals will not be able to justify their actions. The argument of “it was complicated” will not be acceptable to their grandchildren.
There is a passage from the controversial Book of Revelation in the Bible that will be particularly relevant: “So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth!”
Unlike previous periods in history when the media was controlled by those who hold power, we live in a time when no one can stop the flow of information. Palestinians themselves have been live-streaming their genocide. I am only a tiny drop in the bucket of influencers and journalists who have continued to speak out. The harsh truth is that if a person is unaware of the horrors of the Gaza Genocide, it is because they’ve chosen to be unaware.
This watershed moment in history will be studied extensively, and my own grandchildren may judge me for not doing enough. I welcome that. My only hope is that their generation is more principled and courageous than our own.
One thought on “OPINION: What will our grandchildren say?”
Mr. Chidiac complains that he has had increasing difficulty getting published. There is no doubt a good reason for that: most readers are interested in facts and evidence, and most publications prefer what readers want to read and are not interested in publishing fact-free propaganda. This piece is a case in point. It presents no evidence whatever but takes the allegation that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza as a given. In fact, the evidence conclusively demonstrates that Israel has not engaged in genocide in Gaza.
On taking power in Gaza in 2007, Hamas, together with its allies such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, initiated a campaign intended to destroy Israel and exterminate the Jewish people, both in Israel and abroad. This is indisputable. It is explicit in the Hamas Charter and in numerous statements by Hamas officials, and in the conduct of Hamas. Between 2007 and Oct. 7, 2023, in addition to several ground attacks, over 20,000 missiles were launched at Israel from Gaza, aimed randomly, not targeted at military installations. That they did not produce massive casualties is due to Israel’s extensive civil defense measures: the Iron Dome system which shot down most of them and the use of bomb shelters, both public and, as required by law, in private homes and apartment buildings. The construction of thousands of bomb shelters and of systems like iron Dome is an economic burden. The frequent warnings of air attacks and retreats into shelters impose a great psychological burden, including an astronomical rate of PTSD among Israeli children. Even so, the system is not perfect and Israeli civilians are killed. To take but one example, on 12 May 2021, Nadine Awad, a 16-year old Muslim Arab girl, was murdered by Hamas, along with her father, in a rocket attack. She was in Dahmash, the Arab village in which she lived, not a military installation.
On Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorists infilitrated Israel, murdered over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, mutilated their bodies, raped many women, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, many of whom were subsequently murdered in captivity. Since that date, another 10,000 missiles have been launched from Gaza. All of these acts:- indiscriminate attacks on civilians, rape, mutilation of corpses, and the taking of hostages – are grave violations of international law, as are the attempt at genocide and the conduct of an unprovoked war of aggression.
Chidiac claims that Israel’s response in defense, intended to rescue the hostages and to put an end to Hamas’ aggression, constitutes genocide. Even if we accept as valid the statistics provided by the Gaza Health Department, which is to say, Hamas, a genocidal fascist organization with a long proven record of lying, we can see that Israel has neither committed nor attempted genocide.
According to Hamas, the total number of deaths in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 is approximately 75,000. This includes natural deaths, own goals from missiles fired from Gaza falling short, and the deaths of Gazans murdered by Hamas in its suppression of dissent and robberies of aid convoys. The population of Gaza is 2.1 million. That means that the percentage who have died, even including many deaths not attributable to Israel, is about 3.5% over a period of more than two years. That doesn’t remotely approach genocide.
That still leaves the possibility that Israel has attempted genocide unsuccessfully. One of the few facts on which there is universal agreement is that Israel has overwhelming conventional military superiority over Hamas and other Arab forces. Israel has a large and capable air force; Hamas has no air defence at all. Israel has much larger ground forces, equipped with tanks and artillery which Hamas lacks. If Israel actually wanted to kill Gazans, there would be hundreds of thousands of dead Gazans The claim that Israel has attempted but failed at genocide is ludicrous. Further evidence of Israel’s lack of genocidal intent is the fact that every area under Israeli control, Green-line Israel, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Judea, and Samaria, has seen rapid growth in its Arab population. Israel has not taken advantage of its control to massacre or expel Arabs.
The statistical distribution of deaths in Gaza, again according to Hamas’ figures, belies the claim of genocide. Indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations produce a distribution of deaths similar to that of the population. Attacks targeting civilians will produce a distribution in which women and children are over-represented. But, according to Hamas itself, it is men of military age who are over-represented. That is what happens when enemy troops are the target.
The video footage to which Mr. Chidiac refers shows large-scale destruction of infrastructure, whole areas turned to rubble. It looks like old images of Berlin after WWII. Estimates are that roughly 80% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. If that were the result of carpet bombing or artillery barrages, we would expect a comparable percentage of the population to have been killed. The death of less than 4% of the population in spite of the destruction of 80% of the infrastructure shows that rather than indiscriminately or deliberately targeting them, Israel has gone to great lengths to avoid killing civilians. As is well documented, Israel has used large numbers of small-scale air strikes, has warned civilians to evacuate in advance of attacks, has called off attacks when the civilian toll would be large, and has sacrificed the lives of hundreds of its own people by sending in troops on the ground, lives that could have been saved by attacking exclusively from the air. According to military experts, the percentage of “collateral damage”, non-combatant deaths, is the lowest attained by any armed force in modern urban warfare.
In short, the accusation of genocide is entirely without foundation, an inversion of the reality that it is Israel that is at risk of genocide, not Gaza. That Mr. Chidiac persists in peddling such nonsense is no doubt the reason that few people pay attention to him.