By now we’re no strangers to the Israel-Hamas conflict and the destruction that’s accompanied it.
We’re also familiar with the protests on each side and their calls for supporters.
On Saturday, a pro-Palestine protest of over 30,000 people made its way through the streets of London.
That’s the most recent out of thousands across the world.
Marches like these combined with social media pages are demanding the we support a side. For example, an X account run by Dr. Eli David has frequently tried to show pro-Palestine protesters in a bad light to convince people to support Israel.
These protests and movements force people to pick a side, as if there’s a good or bad country.
It’s hard to pick a side with so many unjust deaths at the hands of both sides, and frankly, that’s enough of a reason for people to wish to remain neutral in all of this.
In war, there are no good or bad sides. It’s two factions fighting, which will cause death and destruction. Whichever country you choose to “root for” won’t change the death toll and lives affected. The focus should be on the war itself instead of which side you want to win.
So far in the Israel-Hamas War, the death toll has risen over the 10,000 mark. Most of these deaths are civilians, people who have no part in the war and were killed for no reason.
And with the war moving into more urban areas, the war is expected to get worse.
Let’s look at the two sides. The Hamas are classified as a terrorist organization in Palestine. They initiated the conflict with the capturing of Israeli hostages and have refused to give them back even after Israel threatened them.
This doesn’t mean Israel’s in the right ether.
For decades, the existence of the country has been a problem in the Middle East, and there have been multiple wars fought.
More recently, Israel has performed bombings on the Gaza Strip. It has also refused the recognize Palestine as an independent state.
In this war, Israel has bombed Gaza, once again targeting the Hamas. They have instead bombed civilian targets, which has led to unnecessary civilian deaths.
You have a declared terrorist organization capturing hostages and a country who bombs civilian areas with a troubled history in the region.
It doesn’t sound like there’s a good side.
Pledging ourselves to a complex issue with decades of history halfway across the globe is dangerous, especially if we’re uninformed. Instead of feeling compelled to take a side, we should be okay and not shunned for wanting to stay neutral on the matter.
If one can’t justify their own country in a war, then why choose a side at all?
The focus shouldn’t be on who will win the war, but on the war itself ending. The only way to truly win a war is for no war to exist in the first place.
Pledging ourselves to a complex issue with decades of history halfway across the globe is dangerous, especially if we’re uninformed.
Instead of feeling compelled to take a side, we should be okay and not shunned for wanting to stay neutral.
