The murderous demonic sneak attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7 must be fully understood in the context of Islamic history, warfare and tactics.  All of the major and most of the minor media are utterly without comprehension and have as usual defaulted to their prejudices and to repeating and amplifying the tsunami of propaganda generated by the murderers, their handlers, and the Israel- and Jew-haters of the fascist right and left. 

Yes, this was an obscene, unspeakable sneak attack by barbarous hate-filled sub-humans, shouting prayers to their deity and displaying their murderous rampage via the 21st century internet.   Raping and slaying their way through throngs of young innocents, the weak and aged, and even infants and angelic toddlers.  Forcing parents to watch the murder of their children before killing them, too; binding whole families together and burning them alive in their homes.  Bloody incongruity and savage insanity?  Perhaps not.

The weak minds and ignorance of most modern folk are stunned by the horror and cruelty that was perpetrated and fall into easy explanations based on rational emotional responses. This must be the result of decades of anger because of cruel treatment by the Israelis.  It’s perfectly understandable that people deprived of their land and dignity and under military occupation by jackbooted military thugs would explode this way, isn’t it?

Leave aside, for a moment, civilized people’s responsibility to behave with a degree of control and balance, even when very angry, and to direct vengeance only at the authors of their pain and suffering, and not at every opportune innocent bystander in their reach.  There is a much darker and more sinister purpose to turning insane murderers loose to gain your victory.

Even the Hamas death squads and their masters know the warning of Admiral Yamamoto when he received word of the success of Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor: “I fear we may have awakened a sleeping giant.  A military man cannot be proud of smiting a sleeping enemy.”

In the long history of warfare between Islam and Christendom (and nearly everyone else), savagery and murderous cruelty were often tools and not simply the result of hard-fought battles.  We live in a soft and relatively pampered age, and most know nothing of the wonton murder of tens of thousands which regularly occurred with the sack of cities and towns all across the ancient world.  When a city’s walls were breached, all possessions, including wives and children who survived, were taken as booty by the winners.  Sometimes, all remaining inhabitants were murdered, and carcasses left to rot on the ground.

Tattoed fist reading "jihad" in Arabic 
 

The Great Khan often achieved his ends by murdering everyone in a city, making a mountain of the corpses and warning adjacent cities that this would be their fate if they failed to surrender forthwith.  This was very effective.

The purpose of wanton, bloodlust killing, breaking any and all civilized taboos, was done to challenge and intimidate your adversary, to break his will and resolve, to frighten his soldiers.  During World War 2, in our island-hopping battles with the dug-in Japanese across the Pacific, if an American fighter was captured he might very well be strung out and tortured on the battlefield so his suffering and cries of pain could be heard by and demoralize his fellow soldiers.

Hamas has delivered a carefully crafted message to the Israelis and to the world.  The people of the Middle East know it very well.  Most recently, ISIS was the Muslim messenger, murdering, raping, torturing the non-Muslims or non-cooperating Muslims within their reach.  Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, and dozens of other ethnic groups were told that they must submit to the rule of this restored Islamic Caliphate or they would be tortured and killed.

Today, what we quaintly refer to as antisemitism or hatred of Jews, plays a part in the violence, but as the great scholar of Islam, Bernard Lewis, instructed us, we are living through a “Clash of civilizations.”  There are many positive values in Islamic history and civilization and many thorny negatives throughout Western history.  Resolution here cannot come from a “zero sum” game.

What’s to be done?  In the context of the Middle East, Israel has had an almost magical luster, defeating much larger enemies, continuing against great odds to develop a vibrant and creative society, and a robust economy.  Over seven decades, Israel has shown an almost biblical success streak.  This has made Israel the major insult to Muslim extremists and revanchists.  Add to this that Mohammed himself had an angry run-in with the Jews of his time on his rise to power, and one that he never forgave.

Israel has been given a bloody nose.  Its appearance as a champion has been badly damaged.  Lowly Hamas has been able to ridicule and insult the great Zionist enterprise and may now lure it into a deadly confrontation which Hamas can use to inflame the Muslim world.  Hezb’allah sits across the border, armed with enough rockets to kill and destroy many Israelis and much of its infrastructure.  And the Syrians (the remnant still there) may be tempted to open another front in this war.

The United States under Biden is of only marginal utility, if that, in this moment.  The two aircraft carrier battle groups that have been dispatched are not needed by Israel.  Their only purpose seems to be to help Biden quiet the Jewish fundraising and support backbone of his party and to try to keep the Israelis from a long overdue elimination of Iran’s nuclear program and decapitation of the regime of Mullahs.

I believe that Israel must now eliminate Hamas, and they must do this without the loss of many soldiers made to engage in house-to-house battle.  They know where the tunnels lie, where the outside air comes from, and where entrance and egress are hidden.  Israel must close the tunnel city Hamas has created, killing virtually all the benighted souls therein.  They should begin this process, by holding a prayer service for the dead, all of those, including the hostages (God bless them, this is the most difficult element) and the Hamas lunatics who will be entombed beneath the sands of Gaza.

Hezb’allah, has already been warned that Hell awaits them if they intervene.  I believe that the Israelis should deploy several low yield nuclear weapons on a hair trigger, to be used the moment that any rocket volley from Lebanon is initiated.  Terrible, but it must be done, or a major portion of Israel will be laid waste and there will be a dreadful civilian death toll.

Lastly, Israel must, if it has not already planned this to the last detail, be ready, on its own schedule to destroy Iran’s nuclear program and leadership.  This may also require unconventional weapons. 

Israel must remember that “Never Again” means, recognizing that you are living amongst primitive savages who play by the rules of the Old Testament.  You must answer the insult and prevent the ridicule.  Bin Laden said, “The people want to follow the strong horse.”  You must be the strong horse to shock the world into attention and remind all of us that the Lord will smile upon those who treat His people with love and respect, but Woe to those who forget His Covenant.

Patricia Henry is the pen name of a veteran California political activist.

Photo credit: Jaehad  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.