The True Resistance

I got this text from our teammate in Gaza over my morning coffee yesterday morning:

By day’s end… Gaza was out of fuel.

How to be Right and Wrong at Once

2.3 million people, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, no longer have electricity, food, or water.

A few days ago, HUMANITE Peace Collective (our parent org) had humanitarian access via Egypt. But Israel warned it would bomb Egyptian trucks who tried to bring aid. Then Israel did bomb the crossing. So Egypt shut it down entirely.

Indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes have injured thousands of innocent people.

But without electricity, hospitals have lost most functionality.

As the world condemns “Hamas beheading babies” (with no proof), Israel is cutting off newborns in incubators.

The elderly on oxygen.

Dialysis.

X-rays.

All cut off.

These are war crimes.

Be Careful What You Pray For

I’m not Jewish or Palestinian, so why does this matter to me? Why should I have a take?

I was 21 when the Sept. 11th attacks went down.

And 9/11 turned me into a religious zealot.

I left America hellbent on turning Muslims into Christians—to eradicate my enemy.

I prayed for the end of Islam.

I marched circles around mosques like Joshua in the Battle of Jericho, dreaming of the day the walls would come tumblin’ down.

And eventually, I got my wish.

Shock and awe in Baghdad.

My cofounder bombed by American fighter jets in Fallujah.

A few too-close-to-calls in Mosul.

Twenty years later, as all the years of war settled on us, I was walking the bombed-out streets in the rubble of mosques and churches in my home, Iraq, where I’ve raised my family when it dawned on me…

My prayers had come true.

Countries decimated.

Mosques destroyed.

Muslims gone.

Genocide unleashed.

Sometimes it’s best to not get what you want.

Israel’s 9/11

This week’s Hamas terror attacks have been called “Israel’s 9/11”.

The blow-for-blow, eye-for-an-eye desire for revenge is normal.

And so is the massive overreach of the Israeli government right now.

These are not subhuman responses. They are thoroughly human responses.

But they are not the best of our humanity. Indeed, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all demand more. International law demands more. And for good reason.

Because history shows that indulging our humanity is really bad for humanity.

After 9/11, America got its wish. Or, to paraphrase the Jewish prophet: “we got our reward.”

And if we had aimed for something greater—like real moral leadership—we probably could have attained that reward, as well.

The thing is, you get what you aim for.

It’s not hard to exact revenge when you’re the superpower. But it is hard to exact revenge and retain your place atop the mountain.

In the 20+ years since 9/11 and America’s arrogant “War on Terror”, the US has given up considerable amounts of moral authority, goodwill, lives, and treasure.

Now, when we denounce Russian invasions, for example, it just doesn’t hit the same. We sacrificed our credibility for the adrenaline rush of revenge.

We wanted the feeling of safety and superiority more than we wanted to do the long, hard work of creating safety and earning superiority.

We got our reward. But feelings flee.

We could have had true influence.

Unfortunately, today’s Israeli leadership has learned all the wrong lessons from the US. (And Hamas has learned none of the right ones from al-Qaeda or ISIS.)

Israel will win this battle. But like Bush, Netanyahu has been baited further into the quicksand of an existential war that is completely unwinnable. He’ll get a few battles’ worth of revenge. But that will be the fullness of his reward.

Because when the taste of blood wears off, all that’s left is fear.

Of retaliation.

Of losing your grip on power.

Fear that you lost the moral high ground. That you squandered generations of goodwill which can never be reclaimed.

This is not a prophecy. It’s history. Fear is the sentiment now ensconced in both the Israeli state’s and Hamas’s raison d'être.

You can get revenge. But it never brings the thing we really want.

The True Resistance

Israel is framing its most recent violence as its resistance against terrorism.

Hamas is framing its most recent violence as its resistance against terrorism.

Both are right. Which is why we peacemakers talk about cycles of violence.

The Peacemaker’s Guide is not a purely pacifist publication. Many of the members of HUMANITE Peace Collective have been living these wars for decades, in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. We recognize the right to self-defense and some of our members have, as individuals, even taken up arms against ISIS terrorists in our villages to save our wives and children.

Still, the real resistance here is to not accept the premise that “might makes right”; or that “two wrongs make a right”.

This eye-for-an-eye approach to freedom and security has blinded us all.

The true resistance is to resist demonization.

Resist the urge to strip away the humanity of suffering people with talk of “animals” and “monsters”. These behaviors are human. We are all good and bad, swimming in love and existential dread. We should deal with each other as such, not as unthinking, irrational hordes.

Your social media feed, like mine, is likely filled with Hollywood actors, teenage influencers, and your random aunt all stumbling over themselves to make some kind of statement because, suddenly, the Left and the Right are united on the ridiculous idea that “silence is violence” against their home team. This, too, should be resisted.

Summary

So what’s a peacemaker to do? I’ve pulled together ten practical thoughts from my ~twenty years at war that have served me and our communities well when the drums of war beat loudest:

1. FACT CHECK: “Silence is violence.” That result came back: 100% false.
   

2. You don’t have to have an opinion. I’ve demanded that people speak up in the past. I was wrong. Because when mis- and disinformed people speak up, it only makes things worse.
   

3. Targeting innocent civilians is a war crime. No matter who does it.
   

4. Life is precious wherever it’s found.
   

5. My enemies are human like me. I acknowledge the reality of their fears, miscalculations, and desires. I humbly practice suspicion of my own.
   

6. We cannot bomb our way to peace. See also: shoot, kill, rape, sanction, starve, cleanse, vilify, and propagandize.
   

7. Be careful what you pray for. I’ve never understood it, but prayer works. We need moral imagination and prophets on all sides who will stand for our common good.
   

8. Focus on long-form content. Books, newsletters, podcasts, documentaries, and care-filled journalism. Stay on guard against incendiary headlines and hot takes that are meant to divide us and force us to side against entire groups of humans.
   

9. Stay out of the comments section. No one cares. Save your energy and the energy of those you might incite. Let’s try to outdo one another in shots not fired.
   

10. Give to those who make peace. The Peacemaker’s Guide recommends Telos in the US; B’Tselem in Israel; and HUMANITE Peace Collective in Gaza.

Thank you for sticking together in this work for peace. We’re all connected. It all matters. Let’s keep going.

Jeremy Courtney
CEO
HUMANITE

P.S. Israel just warned 1M people in north Gaza to get out NOW. But our colleagues and neighbors have nowhere to go and no way to get there. A ground attack is coming.

If you’ve felt helpless this week, this is one way you can make a huge difference. HUMANITE Peace Collective and our members are on the ground evacuating people now. Click here to get them to safety. No one wants to wake up to the headline “Mass Graves Found in North Gaza” and know we had a way to help. Join us >