Over the past weekend the terrorist organization Hamas launched a series of attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The attacks have been rightly condemned and we pray for peace in the Middle East. Our October Devotions this year to Mary, Queen of Peace, have a definite intention. At the same time, some in the media and even in our political parties have used disturbing words and expressions when describing this attack. Some described the attackers as “militants,” or “fighters.” Others have downplayed the violence by describing that those killed were mostly military targets. Finally, others have sought to justify this violence as the result of historic Israeli maltreatment of Palestinians. Considering actual events these word games and equivocations must stop. Hamas is an evil terrorist organization.
We do not need to look far to confirm the atrocities Hamas committed. Members of the terrorist organization posted numerous videos. These videos depict numerous crimes in graphic detail. They show civilians and soldiers killed indiscriminately. At a music festival around 260 civilians were gunned down; many others fled into the desert. They show the bodies of the dead mutilated and put on grotesque displays. They show the elderly, women, and children taken as hostages to be used as human shields (Hamas also uses their own civilians as shields). Videos depict lines of women hostages awaiting transport. Some display signs of being raped. Evil exists in the world. Downplaying its reality or redefining it helps no one. Hamas is evil.
