In his 2002 Nobel lecture, former President Jimmy Carter said, \u201cWar may sometimes be a necessary evil. But, no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other\u2019s children.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth of President Carter\u2019s words has been challenged in the aftermath of Hamas\u2019 attack on civilians in Israel on October 7. The anger many are feeling, me included, is justified when you read the stories of those like May Hayat, a survivor of the Supernova music festival, who, after witnessing the murders of several festival goers, survived only by smearing herself in blood and then laying motionless among dead bodies until help arrived.<\/p>\n
Who wouldn\u2019t demand retribution and revenge when confronted with such stories of death and survival?<\/p>\n
And therein lies the problem, which points to the truth of President Carter\u2019s supposition. For example, two days after Hamas\u2019 initial attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that he ordered a \u201ccomplete siege\u201d of the Gaza Strip. Gallant said, there will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to say, \u201cWe are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.\u201d Several days later on FoxNews, United States Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, \u201cWe\u2019re in a religious war here. I am with Israel. Do whatever the hell you have to defend yourself. Level the place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sen. Graham\u2019s comments are not an outlier. I\u2019ve heard various iterations across the political spectrum. Anger at a common foe during war tends to unite political opponents in the race to make the most extreme statement. It\u2019s called being an edgelord.<\/p>\n