Marty Levine
March 4, 2025
It can’t be only me who feels the pain of Hamas’ hostages, their families and neighbors and also feels the pain of Palestinian families living in Gaza and the Territories in the West Bank. But it seems that way this morning.
It was not possible to react with anything but revulsion as the bodies of a mother and her two very young children were returned from Gaza to Israel. Shiri Bibas and her sons had been taken as hostages on October 7th and held as hostages by Hamas until their death. And their bodies were held while Hamas and Israel fought militarily and in words over how the carnage should end. The release of their bodies was used, as have all of the hostage releases, as props in an Humas effort to make a political point before they were returned to their family. None of this speaks to the humanity we share even with those we are in conflict with.
As the NY Times reported, that horror continued even after their bodies were back in Israel.
Early on Friday morning, the Israeli military announced that the body of Ms. Bibas — nominally returned, along with those of her sons, by Hamas to Israel on Thursday — appeared to be that of someone else. And an autopsy of the two boys, aged 4 and 8 months at the time of their abduction, revealed that terrorists killed them in Gaza “with their bare hands,” the military said.
Hamas was immediately and rightfully condemned for the depths of this behavior.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu … expressed “boundless sorrow” and “indescribable pain” over Hamas’s murder of the Bibas children, Kfir and Ariel, and called on the civilized world to condemn the Palestinian terrorist group’s depravity.
It is impossible to describe the overwhelming grief, anger, and relief that comes with these murdered hostages finally returning home to their loved ones and the shock of learning that Shiri Bibas is still not home,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. Especially gut wrenching for so many of us is not only the brutal murders of Shiri and Yarden Bibas’s beautiful boys, Ariel and Kfir, but Hamas’ cruel and downright barbaric return of a body that they claimed to be their mother. Their murder, and this added violation of the hostage agreement, is just another horrific example of the unimaginable cruelty that Hamas has inflicted since October 7, 2023.
A list of similar quotes could go on and on, and including leaders of major American Jewish organizations and political leaders of both parties. Few seemed to miss their opportunity to stand against this wrong. That list would include voices from all parts of the political spectrum, including those who actively support Palestinian freedom and human rights.
But too few of these voices have yet been raised to protest Israel’s recent decision to again stop humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Few who condemned the death and destruction of October 7th and the taking of hostages have added their voices to condemn what has taken place in Gaza and the Palestinian territories in the almost 18 months that have passed.
And the horror of those months is hard to avoid. Here’s Wikipedia’s current recap of the human cost since October 7, 2023.
As of 25 February 2025, over 50,000 people – 48,903 Palestinian[3][8] and 1,706 Israeli[b] – have been reported killed in the Gaza war according to the official figures of the Gaza Health Ministry, as well as 166 journalists and media workers,[c] 120 academics,[27] and over 224 humanitarian aid workers, a number that includes 179 employees of UNRWA.[28] Scholars have estimated 80% of Palestinians killed are civilians.[5][4][6][29] A study by OHCHR, that verified fatalities from three independent sources, found that 70% of the Palestinian killed in residential buildings or similar housing were women and children.[30][31]
Here’s a picture of the physical destruction that has destroyed almost all of Gaza’s infrastructure:
Why is it that so many can see the horror of the deaths of Israelis, but not in the death of Palestinians? Why is there horror when those who die are Israeli children but not when the children are Palestinian?
This is what troubles me so much in this moment. Whatever you think about Israel and Palestine and how this conflict should be resolved, does the humanity which transcends these identifiers not transcend? However, you parse the history of this troubled place, should we not resonate to our shared humanity?
As fervently as I have felt about a need for Palestinian self-determination, I was not blinded by the inhumanity of what took place on October 7. That was not a battle, it was a slaughter. I could not excuse the rampant violence, nor could I excuse the taking of hostages.
Yet that did not keep me from holding onto the reality of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people and the total denial of human rights that has marked its rule.
So, because it wanted to step away from a cease-fire agreement it no longer liked, Israel announced that as a bargaining chip it was halting all shipments of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies into Gaza. I cringed. And I’m waiting for the voices of Israel’s supporters to stand up and say “enough”. I am waiting for them to say that this is a step too far and that Israel is wrong and must stop.
Earlier this week Peter Bienart, in his regular Monday morning post, pointed me to the words of the revered British Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Your enemy is also a human being. Hostility may divide you, but there is something deeper that connects you: the covenant of human solidarity. Pain, distress, difficulty – these things transcend the language of difference. A decent society will be one in which enemies do not allow their rancor or animosity to prevent them to coming to one another’s assistance when they need help. If someone is in trouble, help.
Somehow for these silent voices recognizing that simple request, “If someone is in trouble, help” when it comes to Palestinians is too difficult, and too big, and ask.
Perhaps recognizing your enemy’s humanity forces you to question your own behavior?
