Over the weekend, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a stirring speech to the Israeli people about Israel’s war against Palestine. Netanyahu made it clear that the conflict is a religious war.
“The biblical reference to Amalek is genocidal,” noted one theologian after the prime minister invoked an ancient enemy. “The Bible commands to wipe out Amalek, including women, babies, children, and animals.”
Human rights defenders on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an “explicit call to genocide” after he delivered a televised address calling Israel’s imminent invasion of Gaza a “holy mission” and invoked an ancient mythical foe whom the God of the Hebrew Bible commanded the Israelites to exterminate.
Declaring the start of a “second stage” of Israel’s war on Gaza—which he described as a “holy mission”—Netanyahu said that “you must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible.”
According to the Hebrew Bible, the nation of Amalek was an ancient archenemy of the Israelites whose extermination was commanded by God to Saul via the prophet Samuel.
Netanyahu believes that Israel must do to the Palestinians what the genocidal God of the Old Testament commanded Saul to do to the Amalekites:
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. (I Samuel 15:3)
Is this not exactly what Israel is presently doing in Gaza? How then, does their slaughter of Palestinians not constitute genocide or war crimes?
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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So the god of the old testament was one vengeful, vicious, bloodthirsty, sonofabitch, huh? It’s religious fanaticism at it’s worst using mythology to justify murder. The Nazis’ justification for the holocaust was no more evil than this. I’m disappointed in our geriatric President. The USA being Israel’s main financier and supporter has a lot of influence but that influence is not being used to save lives of innocent people from angry bloodlust. Even the Nazi’s did not set out to destroy entire countries for revenge against resistance fighters. I wanted to believe human civilization had advanced beyond this barbaric slaughter. As long as the likes of Netanyahu can draw on religious mythology for inspiration and justification for slaughter, world peace will forever be only an ideal.
Dutch, Concerning the destruction of Amalekites, first we must understand the nature and definition of God. Simply, God is the first cause of everything. So by definition, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good. In a math or physics word problem those would be what is called, the givens.
God destroyed the Amalekites because they were evil. Evil means devoid of good.
Modern day Israel will destroy Hamas because they are evil. Have you seen the photos of slaughtered young adult Israelis who were attending a dance and music festival on October 7? Very disturbing to say the least. Such carnage is rarely shown in even the most violent cinematic productions.
Palestinians are being killed in the war mostly because Hamas uses them as human shields. The Israelis send phone and text message and other sorts of warnings to the Palestinians so they can evacuate before Israel attacks. Hamas will not allow the Palestinians to evacuate.
Hamas beheaded babies, burned entire families alive. And if you’ve seen pictures of the hostages taken by Hamas, most of them are beautiful young women. Hamas will not be playing Paddy Cake with them, we can be sure.
Yes, like the Amalekites, Hamas is evil. And because of their atrocious crimes, Israel has every right to destroy them.
Many of the readers of this site are atheists, agnostics, or liberal Christians. Your interpretations of the Bible bear no weight here. Evil isn’t a thing, it’s what people so. In this story, both Palestine and Israel have committed evil acts. You see to justify and ignore Israel’s acts. Why is that? I suspect your religious beliefs demand you view “God’s chosen ones” in a certain light.
You say Israel has a right to slaughter Palestinians. And this squares with your Christian beliefs, how? Square this with the teachings of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. Israel is committing war crimes in Palestine. Whether they will be held accountable for their crimes remains to be be seen.
While the slaughter is horrific on both sides, it is hardly unique. The United States’ hands drip with the blood of innocents. We have slaughtered countless civilians over my sixty-six years of life. One need to only think of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, the firebombing of Dresden, the use of napalm in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and the My Lai massacre to understand that we are not a good people; that we have always been willing to killing innocents to obtain a military or political agenda. So, please no moralizing.
War is never the answer. War have never, not one time, brought peace. A cessation of hostilities (for a time)? Yes, but humans inevitably return to killing each other.
Bruce, The Old Testament is a collection of Hebrew literature. Therefore the Hebrews get to interpret the meaning of the Old Testament.
So me offering up the Hebrew interpretation of their own texts as refutation of key points of your post (which is exceptionally well written, I might add) is valid.
You gave one peculiar interpretation of the OT, not one held by all Jews. The Bible can be used to prove anything. That’s why Bible interpretations should play no part in resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
While I don’t like Netanyahu, in the same speech he said says “Israel’s war aims are clear — “destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities; and returning the hostages home.” Using Biblical prose and religious metaphors is a rhetorical flourish, not unlike when George W. Bush (also don’t like W.) called the response to the 9-11 attacks a “crusade”. If Israel actually had a genocidal agenda they could have wiped Gaza off the map, and justified it with the first rocket to make it into Israel.
While I don’t personally think it is “genocide”, Netanyahu et al. are all falling into this Hamas trap. They don’t care about the Gazan people, and never have. Their sole intent is to start a regional perhaps global war that pits Iran against Israel. The United States likely will get drawn into it.
If I am not mistaken, every nation or group of people that’s gone to war went with the belief that God, by whatever name, was on its side. The only exceptions that come to mind are the atheistic (at least officially) Soviet Union and Communist China. Then again, one might argue that the state or a leader was, in effect, the “God” of those countries.
And what does having God on one’s side lead to? Destruction, usually on both sides.
Ubi solitudenum facieunt, pacem apellant. –Cicero (“They made a desert/wasteland and called it peace.”)
Wow! I got to read me some Cicero. That’s heavy. I doubt Stalin thought God was on his side since he was apparently atheistic. My take on Stalin is he discouraged religion because he recognized it being at the root of virtually all conflict, thus, incompatible with peace. Stalin was ruthless but pragmatic.
Once I heard of a low tier leader I knew who advocated something of such based on a Biblical text. Yes, the Bible in the hands of some is a dangerous book. Maybe it’s a book that should be withheld from the unlearned and immature not capable of considering “holy things.” I personally generally trust the judgment of atheists or agnostics over many who consider themselves Bible-believing Christians.
Hopefully sometime down the road there can be a just two state solution. The hate on every side is definitely not helped by all going on now.
Me too Ted, on trusting atheists. They are less likely to be driven by religious fantasies. Re: restricting access to scripture, One of Martin Luther’s accomplishments was translating the Latin Bible into the language of common people which was considered heresy by some. The scriptures were supposedly beyond ordinary humans who would misunderstand them and potentially distort and misuse them. That case is regularly being made today.
Thanks, TheDutchGuy. I like the equation, the Bible, the Spirit, the community of faith. And we have to work at understanding the times in which we live. Then it can come together into something meaningful and helpful. The problem is that if a people or person is hellbent on some terrible agenda like in Germany during the last century, or sadly, right in our midst today, there can be all kinds of rationalizations for supporting what is evil and rejecting or like Bruce has said, simply being unable to enter into the human suffering of others. Yes, Luther and the entire Reformation, surely under the influence of the Renaissance was certainly groundbreaking in good ways. But it also set the stage for not good things in missionary activity. But I guess colonialism was bound to happen, regardless, sadly.
One of the reasons for Netanyahu launching the war- footing against Gaza territories is because he faces indictments over his past corruption in government,as well as wanting the perfect excuse for taking on Iran. I remember seeing all the protests by Israelis about the restructuring of their court system, and if I remember correctly, it was involving the hard- right religious officials in some way. Israel has certainly weapons in reserve, or they’d never do what they’re doing right now. They can be confident because of those weapons, as well as knowing that America has no choice but to step in if Iran tries to mess with Israel. Many people are now saying that Netanyahu ignored warnings about Hamas pulling something major, because he knew that it would unite Israel,if they faced a major attack,which this was. And lest we forget, those Middle Easterners are planning to do some big time stuff here also, according to a certain three letter agency. You might have seen that on TV. Troy here has it nailed down pretty good. If it’s true that Putin is going to give Hamas air defence systems,among other things, I hate to say how things could go. What’s been happening with Russia and Ukraine is painful, personally, as well as just very dangerous. No doubt the wack jobs who are panting for Armageddon are simply quitting in delight right now ! Speaking of which, Mike Johnson,aka ” Maga Mike”- is a Seven Mountain guy. And he has a strange connection with ” self- pleasuring,” lol.😂💰🇺🇲
I’m looking forward to a South Park episode called, “Cartman Deconstructs.” It’s not out yet, but I’m praying that it gets made.
Yikes, Netanyahu could have found plenty of Scriptures that do not promote genocide in order to gain allegiance. It is a mess over there. But couldn’t they at least let noncombatant civilians through the border to safety? Yes, what Hamas has done to noncombatants is unconscionable, but let the civilians seek refuge.
Obstaclechick, Palestinians have tried to leave Gaza, but Hamas will not let them leave. Hamas has used hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aide to build military infrastructure underneath Gaza City, almost exclusively underneath hospitals, schools, apartment buildings.
Hamas slaughtered 1400 Israelis on October 7. Have you seen the video of scores of slaughtered young adult Israelis laying in their own blood where they were shot to death.
It is Israel that won’t let Palestinians leave, and even if they did, where would Palestinians go?
You said “Hamas slaughtered 1400 Israelis on October 7. Have you seen the video of scores of slaughtered young adult Israelis laying in their own blood where they were shot to death.”
To which I reply, “Israel slaughtered over 10,000 Palestinians after October 7. Have you seen the video of scores of slaughtered young and old Palestinians laying in their own blood where they were shot or bombed to death.”
Bruce, I saw a picture taken from a drone that showed a huge Palestinian traffic jam on its way south out of Gaza. Hamas had driven two vehicles into the highway to block the traffic. Palestine is more than the Gaza Strip. Hamas will not permit residents of Gaza Strip to leave because they use those residents as human shields. That is why civilians become casualties. Hamas is to blame not Israel.
Hopefully you have, by now, seen the photos of Hamas missile launching sites built next to children’s play grounds and Hamas command centers built underneath a hospital.
Have you seen the video of all the slaughtered young people left to die in pools of blood at the music festival that took place on October 7?
Clearly your casualty figures come from Hamas. Besides in just the last few years 10’s of thousands of Muslims civilians have been slaughtered by other Muslims in battles all over the Middle East. The world only cares when Israel kills civilians used by Hamas as human shields.
Israel is the one doing the shooting and bombing, so I blame them for the loss of life in Gaza. Regardless of the political motivations, it is Israeli bullets and bombs -— paid for by the US and other western nations -— that are killing thousands of innocent people. These killings are war crimes.
I am not, for a moment, justifying Hamas’ murderous behavior on October 7. However, I refuse to turn a blind eye to Israel’s behavior —- killing ten times the people Hamas did. Dead kids are dead kids regardless of who is doing the killing.
Are you the Jasper who’s just been banned by John Loftus over at Debunking Christianity?
It is. He is on a short leash. ❤️
Thanks, Bruce. Yes, I am the infamous Jasper. I appreciate the short leash.
Hamas murdered at least 1400 civilians. That is bound to cause a reaction. What if in the USA today say, the Navajo killed 1400 non-Navajo civilians? Watch American Buffalo on PBS. The great-grand parents of current non-native Americans killed off the buffalo, the source of life for many plains tribes. These Native Americans are not trying to kill me. The Palestinians had some of their land given to Jews. Neither the Navajos or the Palestinians have the right to kill the great-grand children of those who invaded their land. Humans have invaded each others lands historically many times. The Israelis are certainly at fault for behaving as badly as the Hamas murders did. But the Palestinians started this war themselves.
The Palestinians where offered an 2 state solution in 1947 and 1967 and rejected both offers. Both sides want all or nothing. They are both guilty.
The other big problem here is overpopulation. When you have both sides overpopulating there is bound to be less land for each person. The only solution is to make sure neither is allowed to have more than 2 children per family.
Barbara,
The Navajo were subjugated by force. They did fight back, but only after their lands and people were overrun by Manifest Destiny (which really is a fancy way of declaring that it is ok because humans have historically taken each others land ).
There was a concerted effort militarily, socially, and religiously to eradicate all forms of their culture and heritage. There were boarding schools that existed in my lifetime who’s sole intent was to “properly re-educate” the “heathen Indian” so they could fit into the great American melting pot. They did this by using any means, including horrible abuse, to “teach” children the proper way to live and forget their own heritage.
Of the Navajo have their own land in a reservation…their own land, right? But honestly, it’s one small part of land that truly belongs to the Navajo, and was built on very dry land that no white man wanted, and even the reservation isn’t safe from the American government taking what it wants and leaving the mess behind. In my family’s lifetime, lifetime, the US government swooped in to mine uranium, and left the mess for the Navajo to live with. And I can assure you that if some other resource were found the process would repeat.
If one were to look at the reservation today, they would see how the American government keeps them subjugated. The Nation can’t even get federal water rights, which, in the Colorado river region is a major struggle. The Navajo are basically ignored and left to fend for themselves, even the Supreme Court ignores the need. So an estimated 30% of Navajo have no water.
So the Navajo are a horrible example to use. They are, if anything, a perfect example of white colonialism and extreme subjugation by any means, defended by any reason.
And to be clear, both the Navajo and Palestinians of today are suffering due to actions of people both past and present. They are not suffering because of things solely done by great grandparents. They are suffering because of things that are done now, today, in the present. These are things that people can fix today, but refuse to fix.
Yes, Hamas murdered Israelis. So, how much revenge is needed for 1400 lives? No one is free of guilt here, and both Hamas and the Israeli government need held responsible for their crimes. Both Hamas and the Israeli government should be held responsible for their refusal to truly negotiate an end to this situation. The reality is that the world prefers to look the other way, pretending there are no issues in this region.
But apparently the only negotiation required is to force the Palestinians to sit inside their walls and wait for the coming doom. Then, when nothing is left and they have even less power, subjugate them even more. Repeat this process for a century or so and you get properly subjugated people who can be kept in their place…
Come to think of it, they way the US deals with the Navajo is perhaps the example Israel has chosen to follow.
Yes, the US genocide of the native Americans is the 2nd original sin.
Most native American tribes were subjugated by force. The whole idea of Manifest Destiny is saying I am better and more deserving than you are. Yes, there were the awful boarding schools. We as a nation should be supporting all native tribes. However I do not know how you would get Republicans to vote for this. I think we should be paying reparations.
HOWEVER, both right-wing Jewish groups want to totally eliminate Palestinians, and groups like Hamas want to totally eliminate the Jewish. In both cases, they can quote the Old Testament or the Koran to verity their desires are correct. Both groups are guilty and use their religious texts to back up their point of view.
They are both guilty and I do not know how the USA can fix this. It will take more than the USA to fix this.
I visited Dachau when I was 9 years old. Those 1400 civilians killed by Hamas will always remind me of Dachau. Now the Israelis are acting as bad as Hamas.
Israel right now is in the place Isael described in the psalm that is an interlude to the Isaiah Apocalypse. It describes a faithful Israelite in the midst of a nation that is not. http://biblicalmusing.blogspot.com/2023/11/apocalypse-chapter-26-israel-waits-in.html What follows for Israel is ugly. But the result will be salvation.
It’s this kind of superstitious mumbo jumbo that brought about the conflict in the first place and continues to make it almost impossible to solve.
Don, ridiculous concepts like an “Isaiah Apocalypse” don’t save anyone. They just cause suffering and death. Shame on you.
I appreciate your courageous post calling a spade a spade, that is, using the term “genocide.” Our news media and government tacitly applaud these actions (or maybe not so tacitly) and continually frame Israel’s efforts as self-defense (and criticism of it as anti-semitism) without putting any of these events in any context. A UN official resigned over this and gave a great interview to Max Blumenthal at The Grayzone about why (it’s on YouTube if anyone is interested).
The situation is a prime example of how ancient tribal mythologies have been used to justify actions to kill people and take land. I really have lost faith in humans to rise above their bullshit, and there’s no deity or son of a deity that can or will fix it. Humans need to do better.
On a personal level, I am a pacifist. I wish taking the “Amish approach” worked more often.
I am also a realist- pacifism would not have stopped Hitler. Brutal force including the fire bombing of Dresden brought Nazi Germany to its total defeat. To do that we had to ally ourselves with Stalin’s Soviet Union, which was a brutal regime all by itself.
Unfortunately for pacifism to prevail, all parties must get to the point where continual violence exhausts their resources and populace. It is the cruel and illogical process we humans must go through, resulting in horrible suffering and death. The desire for glory and martyrdom gives way to a desire for peace.
I fear this will be the only way this horrible and ridiculous war in Palestine and Israel will end.
I’m tired of trying to figure out which side is the worse.
Ironically I wonder if Jesus figured out the idiocy of this when he (at least in the Gospels) preached the beatitudes, love your neighbor, healing the Centurion’s servant, etc. Hate and violence, regardless of motive, only creates more hate and violence.
At the same time, I’ve always wondered about the whole “buy yourself a sword” directive to the apostles before his scriptural death. I always took this to mean that true self defense is virtuous, but revenge and counter aggression is not.
The sermon on the mount, according to the Bible, was given to a group of people who were brutally and viciously dominated by Rome. Apparently Jesus was a pacifist in the midst of violent uprising of the locals and brutal responses of the Roman rulers Jesus, like many Jews of the period, expected a time when Rome would destroy the temple.
Through all of this he called for people to resist without resisting. Put others first, carry their stuff, give them whatever they ask, and do not fight back. If you believe Christian teachings, he died following these principles.
But most people want the brutal god of the Old Testament – eye for an eye – because that is what you do with evil people and revenge is what they desire. I wonder what Jesus would say about that…hmmmm
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240103-us-condemns-far-right-israeli-ministers-call-for-palestinians-to-emigrate-from-gaza Do I think the current Israeli government and some of the more right wing extremist elements of the Israeli Jewish population want a genocide of the Palestinian Arab population? Genocide, maybe not. Ethnic cleansing as in trying to move a large percentage of their Arab neighbors further away from the Zionist state.? I definitely think that is the case.