Recently, my social media has been overwhelmed with videos filmed by people on safari in Africa, capturing the moment when a carnivorous animal attacks, kills, and devours its prey.
Sometimes the suffering of the animal being attacked and torn into pieces looks particularly cruel.
This week, as Israel continues grieving, I thought about the human parallels.
We’re nearing the 11 month mark since the inhuman Hamas massacre in Israel, murdering 1200 people in the most unspeakable ways, raping and sexually mutilating many, burning people alive, and executing parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents. The terrorists kidnapped more than 250 people from dozens of nations (of whom more than 100 remain in captivity in Gaza).
This week, 48-72 hours before their potential rescue by the IDF operating in Rafah, Hamas terrorists executed six of the hostages, shooting them multiple times at close range. They even filmed their victims before, documenting their crime for all to witness. And they brazenly released this footage to take pride in their cruelty.
There’s been no shortage of grief over 11 months, for the 1200 victims slaughtered on October 7, the 250 plus kidnapped, hundreds of soldiers killed in combat to defeat Hamas and rescue the hostages, and scores of civilians killed since as well.
In Judaism, 11 months marks the end of a stage of mourning, specifically for a parent. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis and others from dozens of nations are mourning still: a parent, grandparent, son or daughter, sister or brother, spouse or fiancé, cousin, uncle, or aunt, best friend, classmate, or neighbor. While grief and mourning personally is profound, the difference nationally is that our mourning and grief have not only not ended, but have continued and deepened, impacting us all. Every time the name of a soldier killed in battle is “cleared for publication,” when a child is killed by a terrorist rocket, or when the body of a hostage is recovered from a terror tunnel, we as a nation are deeply impacted.
Simply, there is no end in sight for the mourning. That was made evident this week as six more people were executed, their bodies recovered from Rafah and returned home for burial.
Of more than 100 hostages still held in captivity, more than 30 are known to be dead, their remains inhumanly held by Hamas terrorists to inflict the maximal suffering and psychological trauma on Israel and its people.
In addition to their cruelty, which they engage as if it’s an act of worship, Hamas terrorists and their Iranian Islamic patrons celebrate the social divisions created in Israel by the dual goals of defeating Hamas and rescuing all the hostages. Some stand firm that all the hostages must be brought home at any cost, as if Hamas is actually interested in making such a deal. Some stand firm that Israel must continue to defeat Hamas in any way possible, including retaining control of Rafah, and the length of the Gaza border with Egypt to prevent continued rearming over and under the border.
The divisions in Israeli society are depicted in many ways from regular social protests to public disagreements in the government. In response to the execution of the hostages, a national strike took place across Israeli schools, malls, the airport, municipalities and more. The pain is deep and how Israelis are approaching a solution has become divisive.
All the while, the Islamic terrorists in Tehran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas leaders in high rise luxury hotels in Qatar and underground tunnels in Gaza celebrate and do everything possible to avoid releasing any hostages, dead or alive. Make no mistake, it is the Islamic terrorists that want nothing to do with a ceasefire or releasing hostages. Even if they are defeated physically, and more and more terrorist leaders eliminated, cruelty is their currency.
Back to the animal videos from Africa: More often than not, the videos depict lions, leopards, hyenas crocodiles, and other animals attacking and killing their prey. But animals are not human. They kill not for fun, but for food. They don’t strangle their prey at the neck, or eat the limbs off of live animals to maximize pain or suffering. They kill instinctively to survive.
Since October 7, many have referred to Hamas and other Islamic terrorists as animals, but that’s not accurate. The terrorists are worse. Much worse. They massacred, raped, mutilated, incinerated, executed, and kidnapped not for survival, but to inflict hateful terror.
Biologically, Hamas and other Islamic terrorists are human, but their behavior is demonic. For the survival of humanity and western civilization, it's time their evil ideology is treated as a dangerous predator that needs to be eliminated.