Tel HaShomer, ISRAEL — Six hundred Israeli soldiers have died and thousands more been injured since October 7, when Hamas attacked the Jewish nation and the IDF was activated to root out and kill the terrorists. That’s according to the latest stats on the IDF’s “Fallen and Injured Soldiers” webpage.
But most all the media go: What about the poor Palestinian children?
This is the sad and sorry deception that’s taking place — the fact that the true victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel are being pushed to the side for a new narrative, a new politicized narrative, a new leftist-pushed and antisemitic and yes, most definitely evil narrative that says the killed Jews, while deserving of compassion, actually aren’t deserving as much compassion as the civilians in Gaza. And oh, yes, if truth be told then perhaps, maybe, there’s a case to be made that the Jewish people sort of, kind of even deserved this attack because they are, after all, the illegal occupiers of Arab land and the Palestinians have every right to win back what was robbed.
For instance: “We cannot and will not say [the October 7] actions by Palestinian militants are unprovoked,” IfNotNow, an organization critical of Israel, said in a statement to Newsweek on the heels of the Hamas terror attack. “Every day under Israel’s system of apartheid is a provocation. The strangling siege on Gaza is a provocation.”
Fast-forward to 2024, and more and more governments around the world are similarly equivocating, claiming on one hand to stand fast on Israel’s right to defend itself while on the other, calling for Israel to quit its attacks on Hamas in Gaza — to stand down and ceasefire and stop the IDF from advancing in Rafah — to come to the table and forge a two-state solution that would pave a path of peaceful coexistence between the Jewish people, the Jewish nation and those — and this is the disingenuous part — who would seek to eradicate the Jewish people and the Jewish nation from the face of the earth. And then carry that “death to Israel” mantra to America and to the West and do the same.
Ludicrous. The Palestinians voted for Hamas. The Palestinians, to this day, continue to support and cheer Hamas. The Palestinians believe Hamas is engaging in a valid, righteous, right war against Israel — again, to this day. The Palestinians, yes, the civilian Palestinians, knowingly allowed Hamas to construct tunnels under their homes; tunnels that would be used in the terror war against the Jewish people and nation. The Palestinians, yes, the civilian Palestinians, knowingly allowed Hamas to store RPGs and rifles and other weapons of terror and death beneath their beds in their homes; that’s according to police and law enforcement and soldiers and IDF members who entered these homes in Gaza. Palestinian innocents?
But this is where much of the world now stands in regards to Israel’s war of justice and righteousness against the Hamas terrorists. The true victims, at first honored, at first recognized, at first identified as the Israelis, are now being downgraded and replaced by Palestinians who are being labeled as innocent civilians — despite the fact they voted for Hamas, cheered Hamas, and continue to support Hamas — and more and more alarmingly, by even Hamas terrorists who some are seeing as defenders of a righteous cause.
Let’s remember the real victims here and stop playing into the propaganda aims of the terrorists.
“I enlisted when I was 19,” said Daniel Kapilov, a solder with the IDF who was severely injured one year and four months later when his unit entered Gaza to root out Hamas and were met with a booby trap explosion. He came with his family to Israel from Ukraine, with the help of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and is now 20 years old, facing a recovery from an injury that never should have happened in the first place.
“I was conscious the whole time,” he said, recounting how the force of the explosion severely wounded his leg, his stomach, his face, his arm. He was evacuated by helicopter for medical treatment, and after weeks in a coma, lost his leg.
Now, he’s recovering in Sheba Medical Center in Tel HoShomer, Israel. After a few more weeks, he’ll be fitted for a prosthetic leg and learn to walk again.
He doesn’t think he’s a hero.
He thinks he was just doing his job.
And he hopes to return to military service when he’s healed — not in a combat role, but perhaps one of training.
“I thought about returning to the Army … to teach people how to shoot,” he said.
There are thousands more like him — victims of Hamas who refuse to behave like victims, but who nonetheless find their lives changed dramatically due to the evil actions of others.
From IDF: Since the beginning of the war against Hamas, 1,842 soldiers have been “mildly injured;” 849 “moderately injured;” and 497 “severely injured.” Those numbers fluctuate, due to ongoing battles against Hamas. What’s important to remember is this: Those numbers would all be zero if Hamas had not attacked Israel on October 7.
The real victims are the Israelis.
To suggest anything different is to embolden the terrorists, to buoy the terror groups’ lies and to pave the way for more attacks against Israel.
For more on Daniel in his own words, click on the video.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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