Still Waiting for HELL TO PAY
How much longer do the hostages have?
This is a guest post from the JPF family by published author, G.P. Gottlieb.
All stories written by Reuben Salsa (every Thursday, 8 am Auckland time) are for paid subscribers only. Guest posts will remain free and posted every Sunday and the occasional Tuesday (8 am Auckland time).
For more articles by Jewish authors, subscribe to the JPF on Medium (click on the image below).
Still Waiting for HELL TO PAY
I’m so disappointed in humanity that I haven’t been able to focus on all the things I usually love to write about; culture and art, food and travel, writing and books.
24 hostages might still be alive in Gaza after 581 days of captivity — One American, one Thai, one Nepali, the rest Israeli. All of them were kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill over 1,200 people and abduct 251, starting the war in Gaza.
And Hamas (which continues to invite Israeli retaliation and is raising the ire of those in Gaza who understand that their lives mean nothing to the ruling terror regime) is still holding the bodies of other hostages they slowly tortured or starved to death. Hamas is still importing weapons in the 75% of tunnels that haven’t been destroyed by Israel. And they are still attacking Israel and attempting to commit genocide against the Jews.
No matter how many times they and their followers twist it around to accuse Israel of doing that very thing, it is Hamas and those who fund terror that dream of destroying a people. My people.
I’m disappointed in those who continue to focus not on what terrorists are doing, but on Israel’s response. Shame on Israel for struggling to survive against those who are trying to destroy her!
I’m disappointed in most of the press — why is it so hard to find articles about aborted terror attacks against Israel, so easy to find headlines about Israel’s retaliatory attacks against terror? Why do news outlets including the New York Times continue to accuse Israel of unproven, Hamas-derived statistics in Gaza without noting 1) Hamas’s continuing horrendous behavior and 2) all Hamas needs to do to stop this war is return the hostages?
Under international law, no country is required to give aid to a hostile regime that steals and repurposes the aid for its own benefit. I’m disappointed in those who continuously cite International Law (because of course they are experts), but only in regard to what they think Israel is doing. They’re not concerned about terrorists kidnapping citizens from a dance festival and torturing them, not concerned about an ideology that teaches young children to want to die as martyrs. They don’t even acknowledge that Hamas (and its equally evil extremist pals) keeps repeating their goal: to destroy Israel.
I’m disappointed in those who demand that I excoriate the Netanyahu government for not getting our hostages back. Even though I think Bibi needs to go and wish for elections to sweep out this dysfunctional coalition, I place the blame for the hostage situation squarely on Hamas. They never wanted a deal or a ceasefire unless it was to allow them to regroup. Hamas wants this war to continue — continued chaos keeps them in power.
I’m disappointed in those who demand that I weigh in on American politics in these essays, as if one president or another is responsible for our survival. We’ve learned not to trust the ONE PERSON CAN SAVE US approach — it rarely ends well for Jews.
Stop telling me about all the mistakes made by this or that American president. I assure you that I’m aware of the facts. I don’t get my news from social media, Iran, or the Gaza Health Ministry.
Stop repeating lies about the history of the land of Israel, the history of Judaism, and everything you think you know about Israel and Jews because you heard it on TikTok. And stop trying to use Hebrew words as weapons — I don’t care that you don’t like “Hasbara.” You don’t seem to have a problem with Iranian, Hamas, and other extremist propaganda.
Yes, I’m disappointed in what’s going on in America in terms of science, medicine, technology, research, economics, civility, autonomy, compassion, and how we take care of those who most need help. That doesn’t mean I want to argue with those who are either sure that Trump is going to save Israel or those who think he’s going to sell Israel up the river. Israel is going to survive regardless of what Trump does. Stop trying to draw me into that conversation.
We Jews know what it means to be to fight for our survival and we know what it means to be enslaved. We’re about to celebrate the holiday of Pesach, marking our liberation from Egyptian bondage. We were slaves in Egypt. We know that there will always be those who wish to dominate us, those who will use anything in their power to destroy not just us, but whoever doesn’t agree with them. It’s time for the world to stop coddling Hamas.
581 days of being tortured and starved in Gaza. Let my people go.
Graeme Bird has now been banned and all his comments have been deleted.
@Reuben .. well written .. the nonsense being aired by most media channels, world governments & bodies is poppycock; it’s quite clear, Hamas should surrender and release the hostages. The alternative is not worth thinking about.
Israel is neither an apartheid nation, nor has it committed genocide. This war will result in many dead because Israel needs to eliminate the death cult that runs gaza. Hamas are responsible for the death of its own people, as are the Qataris and Iran who fund and support Hamas.
Qatar, Iran, Turkey and all those other rogue actors supporting Hamas should get Hamas to surrender and return the hostages. They are all complicit in the deaths of the people of gaza.