Photo: This is a still of a shocking video of Hamas parading a German-Israeli citizen who was kidnapped from a music festival. Her mother has reported that she is in critical condition but alive. She was one of an estimated 150 people kidnapped by Hamas and at least 1,300 murdered on October 7, 2023.
This is a special edition of Listen Up. I did not intend to write this month. I am taking a break and am currently out of the country. But sometimes, when heinous events occur, and one has a platform, no matter how small it may be in the grand scheme of things, one has a responsibility to speak up. To me, this is one of those times.
I would like to think that all civilized people would be shocked and very angry at the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel in recent days. Sadly, some people are not. Some people are celebrating and even more sadly and alarming, some of these demonstrations are taking place on Canadian soil.
As both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have said, celebrating raw terrorism has no place in Canada. Those that do so, in my view, should be ashamed of themselves. This is not free speech. These are hate crimes and should be prosecuted. Period.
Of course, I am aware of the tremendous friction over many decades between the State of Israel and Palestine. I am also aware that these issues are complicated and people on both sides have deep feelings about what is right.
But what happened in Israel this past week is beyond the pale. This was nothing short of a group of terrorists loyal to the Palestinian cause creating unprovoked havoc on innocent people. Children were beheaded, young women were raped and paraded nearly naked through the streets. Over a thousand people were slaughtered. Many others were wounded, and some were taken hostage.
How can any decent human being say that this is okay or justified? What happened in Israel this past week was a pogrom of anti-Semitic terrorism of holocaustic proportions, pure and simple. There is absolutely no justification for it.
There is no room for a “Yeah but” here. There are no buts. The Palestinian government should condemn it. All governments and politicians should condemn it and people in general, should condemn it.
There is no outcome here that can be resolved through peaceful negotiations. Golda Meir, a legendary former Prime Minister of Israel once put it this way. “You cannot negotiate peace with someone who has come to kill you.”
There is a chance perhaps, however diminished at the moment, that diplomatic efforts can eventually lead to a peaceful agreement between Israel and Palestine. But the cost for this to Palestinians must be the total denouncement and eradication of Hamas and other terrorist organizations like it and the recognition of Israel. There can be no compromise on that point.
Hamas is an antisemitic terrorist organization, with neo-Nazi tendencies and a confessed goal of erasing Jews. The only way to deal with people like that is to destroy them. There is simply nothing good that can be said about them.
In addressing the terror in Israel, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, said “We confront the reality of war.” That short statement carries a chilling message and to me, a much broader one than Israel alone.
I believe the current situation in Israel brings us closer to a much bigger conflict. Certainly, there will be a war there now and Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorism. I question, however, if Hamas would have risked this attack without believing that the Western world has been weakened in recent years in relation to the global balance of power and consequently, will do little other than wring their hands and say, “How awful”.
There is also some pretty concerning intelligence indicating that Iranian security officials helped plan last week’s attack by Hamas on Israel and gave the green light for the assault to senior members of Hamas at a meeting in Beirut earlier in the week. Iran is an ally of Russia. Russia is an ally of China and North Korea and the United States, the largest power in the Western alliance, is in political chaos.
China has long coveted Taiwan and believes it may now have a window to get away with it because Russia is largely getting away with its unprovoked war on Ukraine. Iran has a long history of wanting to wipe Israel off the map. North Korea wants to take over South Korea and they also have eyes on Japan.
All of these countries have territorial and in some cases ethnic ambitions which bind them together. They see an opportunity, with weakening Western alliances to achieve their ambitions. Not one of these countries will likely support Israel or their right to defend themselves against Hamas terrorists.
In my view, the populist movement in many Western countries, including the United States and Canada, which brings with it a tendency toward isolationism is, at least in part, a factor in the belief of some countries that the Western alliance is losing much of its effectiveness, and radical change to the global balance of power is now possible.
Although there are now different players and different alliances, in many ways the level of toxicity in the world today is comparable to the global toxicity that preceded World War II. Add to that an increase in the resurgence of antisemitism brought about by Hamas terrorists in Israel and the similarities are nothing less than frightening.
There was a time when Canada was a huge player on the international scene. Former Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Brian Mulroney played huge diplomatic roles in areas of global tension as did other Canadians, which significantly enhanced our global reputation. Not so much anymore. As Canada’s former Ambassador to the United Nations has said, now when international affairs are discussed, Canada is at the kid’s table.
How I wish we had more Pearsons and Mulroneys today, not just in Canada but in other countries as well, people who have the ability and the stature to find and execute tough and effective diplomatic solutions that otherwise could end in global conflict. I cannot think of a time in recent decades when it was more badly needed than it is needed today. Our current Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, cannot achieve this alone.
A few days ago, we were in Normandy, France, and spent some time at the Canadian War cemetery near Juno Beach. It was a daunting and emotional experience to see thousands of these graves, meticulously maintained by a grateful French nation, honouring Canadian soldiers most of them under the age of 25 who gave their lives to protect the freedom of generations to come, not only on foreign soil but in Canada as well.
It was while I was there that this all came together for me. So many men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice so future generations would continue to enjoy and cherish the important freedoms that we have, not just for the past eighty years but for all time to come. I could not help but wonder how they would feel if they knew we are on the brink of unthinkable global conflict again. Would they wonder if their ultimate sacrifice was worthwhile?
We simply cannot let this happen again. What has happened in Israel is just adding one more can of fuel to the fire. Eventually, it will get out of control. We cannot just stand by and let that happen. Not in Israel, not in Ukraine, not in Taiwan, or anywhere else for that matter.
This is no time for complacency, for sticking our heads in the sand and saying this will never happen here. In my view, it is past time we WOKE UP and recognized what is really going on around us and prepare to do something about it.
Before it’s too late.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
What we have seen and experienced in the past several days in Israel and Gaza is the epitome of evil. Is there another word for it? But do people understand, or even want to understand, what is happening?
The most important thing to appreciate is that, if you don’t know the ancient history of Israel and Palestine, you will never be able to understand current history and what to expect. I have recently written an extensive narrative – going back to “day 1”. I hope you find it helpful.
davidsthoughts.ca/2023/10/16/understanding-the-middle-east-and-israel/
I agree with your comments, Erin. Thanks for putting it together.
I appreciate you writing this article Hugh.
I also think of the words from Golda Meir “You can not negotiate peace with someone who has come to kill you.”
I stand with Israel!!!
Joanne Tanaka and others–I certainly respect your opinions and I will admit that the photos are difficult to contemplate. Yet, I think that no one “pretends” to honour the victims of heinous acts–one either does or does not. In Hebrews 12, we are told that Jesus “defied the shame” of the Cross during the most horrific moments of His life on earth. The discourse in Isaiah 53, adds to our fuller understanding of the hatred that leads to the murder of innocents . Those who wear crucifixes are truly seeking to honour Him as “…the darling of Heaven–crucified…”
In our more modern sensibilities, we like to pretend that these horrors do not occur (that they are “propaganda”) or that there is some excuse for them-there is not. Twenty centuries ago, Jesus told the parable of the “Good Samaritan” where the victim had been beaten and robbed (in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10) and left “half dead”. Religious authorities went down the the other side of the street to avoid having to have compassion on the man. But a Samaritan, (Samaritans were despised by the religious authorities as “half-breeds” and “dogs”) has pity on the victim, rising to the challenge of caring for the injured man. Why do you suppose Jesus told that parable? He reminded His hearers that they had an enemy who sought to “steal, murder, and destroy” and that this evil spiritual entity was a “murderer from the beginning”, that this evil one “lies as his native language.” We are told that we must choose to obey our Creator God who seeks to bless us for our obedience to His precepts. Otherwise, we are compelled by the evil one to do his bidding. The Tanach (what Christians regard as the Old Testament) admonishes us, “Choose this day, whom you will serve…” and gives an either/or choice.
There can never be an excuse for the murder and the brutalizing of noncombatants but averting our eyes from its reality will not stop it from happening. When did we become such cowards that we can’t even look at evil, let alone seek to end it?
Wake up time folks: As pertaining to the picture and hundreds like it.
The Arab / Israeli conflict can summed up in one sentence,
“One side wants the other side dead.”
Take a guess which side is which. Those who espouse the “Two State Solution”, are in reality talking about the “Final Solution”.
Now, to all the “open-minded” liberal Canadians, to all the alphabet sexually-oriented, one-worlders, eco fanatics, whether you go under the title of Jew, Christian, atheist, or other, I have a tolerance test for you…
Please do the following: Go to Israel for one day and espouse whatever philosophy you want in public. Next, go to Gaza and perform the same task.
Let me know how you survive. Sorry, that will not be necessary, because you will never come out of Gaza alive.
Tell me something you feminists, go to any Muslim-majority country and see how you will be treated. The Trojan Horse has already entered Canada. Now it is just a matter of time.
True, there are some who have left these countries for a free life here, but they do not want any society like the ones they left. However, many are here and are multiplying with every intent of fomenting their jihad on the non-Jewish populations. Look at France…Enjoy!
“One side wants the other side dead.” One day, they will not be hunting the Jews. They will be hunting You! Wake Up.
On a positive note, there is a ministry oneforisrael (youtube) where both Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel have found Jesus as their Lord and Savior and bitter hate through Christ has turned to love for one another in a mutual messiah. Until we come to accept our own sinfulness before God and our willingness to repent, there isn’t much hope, is there?
Thank you Joanne Tanaka, Nancy Osborne and Martina Schroeder.
I am glad to know that I am not alone in having compassion for a family’s loved one whose fate is still unknown and defending her dignity when she is unable to right now.
Hamas attacks on defenceless Israeli civilians are to be condemned as war crimes along with the taking of hostages. Assault on women during these conflicts is the ultimate political acting out of dehumanization and dominance with women as objects and chattels of the opposition. Continuing to exploit these images in the press and social media, reinforces and magnifies the basis for sexist violence against women; further weaponizing this strategy in war. This woman’s image used here exposes the victim to a wide internet audience available now forever as she experiences the most horrific moments in her life. She may not be dead yet and is not an inanimate thing. Pretending she should be honoured by this exposure or that it is acceptable to use this image as a political football is beyond normal ethics and we make her a victim in the dark fog of war. Far better to show the photos of the Canadians who have died there in the attacks, so we can grieve with their families.
Yes. The picture is harsh to look at. But what’s harsher is the man in the pick up truck with his leg over the woman, like he’s got a trophy. Hamas is a terrorists organization, and the people in Palestine who support them are culpable for this.
I have no in-depth knowledge of this conflict but they are located on the coast of the Mediterrean and I wonder why the allies of Palestine aren’t sending ships to get the innocent people out of there.
Of course the photo is disturbing; however, a picture tells more than a thousand words. Please do not remove the photo.
Hugh, thank you for the article.
Glad to see that President Biden is going to Israel to show support for Israel against Hamas, but also to caution Netanyahu from doing the same to innocent Palestinian civilians as Hamas did to innocent Israeli civilians. That would only make matters worse and risk a much wider escalation. Innocent moderates on both sides are collateral damage in this war between hardliners on both sides that has been simmering for a long time.
This commentary certainly does have legs. From Iran to Russia, N. Korea to Taiwan. Sort of a ‘sky is falling’ approach. Not to say the situation isn’t serious; Israel is a nuclear power. With a ‘never again’ mantra.
We’ve had opinions of calm and reason, first person observations, and opinions approaching fanaticism. After the town’s uninspired and unnecessary comments, how many times were the words “stand with Israel” repeated? Not saying that some platoon of young Israeli troopers wouldn’t be happy to have some Gentile walking point into that valley of death, but I’m sure it won’t happen.
This is conflict of ideology. Over the ownership of ‘Eretz Israel’, the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Zionists cite biblical passages that the land was awarded to them by God. Muslims present Qur’anic passages both for and against that fact. So the problem existed long before colonialism as we know it and Balfour, who was just another name in history, attempting to make it all go away. I looked up the ‘Middle East Forum Quarterly’. Heavy going and even the learned ponder and fret.
For me, the prison of Gaza must cease. You cannot keep that many people in a cell; with no hope or way of leaving except by dying. Israel will stand and fight because they have nowhere left to go. They must also see that the people of Gaza are in the same position, powerless and with nowhere to go. So the Israelis will search for their comrades, confront Hamas and wait for Hezbollah. How will factions, so absolutely opposite and determined, find a way past this.
The world has been here before. We can hope for resolution, but there is 2000 years of past to deal with. And the assertion that “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
What is seen cannot be unseen–that is certainly a truism. Children, of course, should be shielded from having to see the ugly atrocities of war. But still, I think it is important to honour the dead and wounded to see what they were forced to endure. It is easy to dismiss brutality as just a feature of war but it is quite another thing to see the actual photos. The reports of Turkish atrocities and genocide visited on Armenian Christians in WWI is more or less meaningless to a modern student of history. That is, until photos of young Christian Armenian women who had been stripped and hung on crosses were made generally available online. Then the suffering of Armenians becomes no longer an abstraction to be “explained” away. For my two-cents worth, I say, leave the photos as a mute witness to what the devilish monsters among us love to do to the weak and innocent.
Please keep the photo up.
There’s an entire contingent of society who are downplaying, justifying, and excusing the atrocity. Some are calling it “propaganda”.
Much like the famous photo, The Last Jew in Vinnitsa, which depicts an innocent Jewish man being murdered by SS Eisensatzgruppe in Poland, this photo needs to be shared, internalized and remembered.
Honour this woman. Never forget her.
What happened to her is what this war is about.
To be abundantly clear it’s not about Israel vs Gaza.
It’s about Israel vs cowardly terrorists who committed atrocities.
Terrorists have no point to their actions other than to incite terror.
Just like 9/11, ISIS atrocities and terrorists who hijack or blow up airliners with innocent civilians.
Hamas terrorists might as well have attacked Gaza residents.
The death and suffering in Gaza is entirely a result of Hamas actions.
I can’t believe a single resident of Gaza thinks they are better off now as a result of Hamas atrocities.
At least Israel is giving them a warning to move to the south before they reduce Hamas neighbourhoods to rubble.
Zero warning was given by cowardly Hamas terrorists to tourists from around the world at the festival, women and children and others in nearby neighbourhoods before they were brutally butchered.
“Documents found on dead Hamas terrorists reveal plan to target children: report”
I don’t care if a picture is worth a thousand words.
Please take the photo down.
It is so offensive and tragic.
I feel so much grief for the innocent individual in the photo.
Martina Schroer
Yes,the brutal attack on Israelis by Hamas cannot in any way be condoned by anyone.
While not in any way an excuse for such sheer brutality, it is I feel essential to look back in History to try to discover the seeds of the lengthy and complicated events that have permeated the conflicts in this area of the world. Again Colonialism/Politics appear to have been the root cause leading up to the disastrous events that have taken place over the years, and starting with the Balfour Declaration around 1920 in England.Readers might find it informative to access the Al Jazeera website and open the article” What’s the Israel-Palestine conflict about? A simple guide”. Thank you to the Doppler for allowing people to express their opinions on these important matters.
I spent some time in Israel when I was teenager traveling and working as a bartender in Eilat. The history and the people are incredible.
More recently, less than a year ago my wife and I visited Israel, the West Bank/Palestine and Jordan. Despite the bus stop bombing while we were there, we felt safe wondering through the old city of Jerusalem even late at night. Always a young military presence everywhere you go. 2 years service is mandatory by all Israelis.
Israel is a first world power house surrounded by third world countries that look across the border with envy at its prosperity. The difference is night and day. Even the border officials are equipped with the latest high tech assault rifles in clean modern state of the art facilities vs the disorganized rundown facilities with old weaponry in Palestine & Jordan. It was evident to us that Israel’s neighbors were jealous and frustrated at the success and wealth this relatively young country (Est 1948) had amassed compared to them (Iran is the oldest country in the world btw). Israel even controls the water supply to The West Bank our Palestinian hosts complained to us.
War/terrorism seem imminent when you are surrounded by those not less fortunate but by those less prosperous and forward thinking.
Having served with the UN in a number of war and conflict zones, I can attest to one thing: the first casualty of war is the truth.
I can recall sitting in one such place where an attack on civilians had just happened and reading a report from someone who was not there with claims of things that had not actually happened. What I did witness in the aftermath was horrendous and more than sufficient to to cause most people to turn away from reading factual reporting of the attack. Sadly the the fictionalized report muddied the waters of fact and fiction and served only discredit factual information from the attack. This is why fact checking is so important.
What happened during the Hamas attack on Israel should be more than enough to turn the stomach of anyone reading or watching the news without being embellished with additional atrocities that are not substantiated. Even the White House walked back the claims of beheaded children three days before the date of this article.
Are dead babies not enough?
In my role with the UN I have spent time in both Israel and Palestine and there are sufficient horrors on both sides that require no embellishment.
Finally was the picture, and naming of the nearly naked, dead woman in the back of a pickup truck really necessary to support this article? Did she really need to be paraded again in front of local readers? Was her degradation by Hamas not already sufficient?
Dear Diana,
They say a photo speaks a thousand words. This photo speaks to the deliberate atrocities committed by Hamas. There are others, just as bad. If you are offended, you should be.
Thank you for your well thought out comment. As a young woman I spent time working on Kibbutz in Israel. My heart breaks for the innocent people of Israel and innocent Palestinians civilians who are being murdered by terrorists. The world leaders need to wake up to these attrocities.
Thank you for writing this excellent exhortation Hugh!
Take this photo down !
The decision to post this photo, regardless of your opinion on the subject, points to the integrity of yourself as a man, your journalistic empathy for this human being, and finally the integrity of this publication. Did no one at the Doppler think about this?!
Thank you for your commentary.
Here is a link to The History of Gaza by Dr. Henry Abramson who was born and raised in Northern Ontario and is an Historian Hebrew Scholar living in New York. I thought your readers might find this informative.
https://youtu.be/iPMk5hOpyxs?si=Uku5L7240jrdwEik
I am very disturbed by the photo you have shared of this young person being treated in a degrading dehumanizing manner. I am assuming this image was published without consent of herself or her family. Using her image to draw attention to your column is another assault to her dignity and her soul; not a demonstration of genuine concern for the real suffering of the victims of this current Hamas-Israeli conflict. Give your readers some credit for the intelligence and sensitivity to know the situation is horrific: along with other developing and current conflicts, we know there are risks to peace and security everywhere. We feel fear and anger and deep sadness for all those who suffer. How to heal these wounds and make the world safe, joyful and peaceful for all beings?
Thank you! My extended family spends a lot of time in Huntsville. We have been feeling very alone out here and it was truly comforting to see we have friends in Huntsville.
Hugh, if terrorists celebrate that’s depravity not celebration. I have not heard of anyone “celebrating” this travesty.