A recent newscast posted the rising death toll numbers from the Israeli/Hamas war.  The graphic that was used for this looked oddly familiar but I couldn’t place why.

The story that followed answered my question.  It was a recap of the last Patriots game where the graphic of the final score looked strikingly like the previous death toll graphic: similar colors, layout, and totals aligned in the same way.

It struck me that this is how we determine who is “winning.”  In a football game, of course, it is the team with the highest score.  We seem to have reversed this and transferred that over to this latest tragedy.  

But does a death toll help determine a winner?  Are we to believe that Israel is posting “winning” numbers because their losses are under 2,000 while Palestinians are posting “losing” numbers at close to 10,000?  One report even described the Palestinians as the “underdogs.”  Which team are we supposed to be rooting for, again?  I worry that flags could become like team jerseys.  

This is not a sporting event.  There are no “teams” involved.  There should not be a scoreboard.  This is an epic horror of historic proportions (with that very history being one of generational distrust, oppression, and hatred). 

Does Israel have the right to defend itself against terrorists who carried out a heinous attack of brutal death and kidnapping?  Of course.  Are the skyrocketing civilian deaths among Palestinians justified?  Of course not.  Yet it is complicated.  How do you fight a war against terrorists when the terrorists are embedded in the civilian population, a population that elected Hamas to leadership in 2006?

A scoreboard trivializes what is happening.  Still, the numbers don’t lie.  The ISIS-like brutality that came with the slaughter of 1,400 innocent Israeli civilians and the 240 (to date) remaining Israeli hostages cannot go unanswered.  

At the same time, the rate of civilian deaths in Gaza also cannot continue (now at nearly 9,000).  It squanders the international goodwill that surrounded Israel after the terrorist attack on October 7th, invites a coordinated response from surrounding countries, and risks fostering a new generation of terrorists among those who witness such death and destruction.

So what is the answer?  From a faith perspective, when two communities are at war there is an obligation placed on the surrounding communities witnessing this violence.  Those communities have an obligation to step in and douse the flames enough to allow for the development of a long-term solution.  

In this case, the global community needs to step up more than it is, before this war spirals out of control.  What actions, taken today, will put an end to the cycle of terrorist attacks followed by the requisite military bombardment?  What actions, taken today, will be celebrated by both Israelis and Palestinians twenty years from now?

It is a pivotal moment.  A pause or ceasefire may open the door to a new and better future.

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic