Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been raining down rockets on Israeli civilians for the past few days now.
Newborn babies had to be wheeled out of hospitals and into bomb shelters.
My friends are either going back to war, or hiding with their families.
If you're not in this space, the reason why you're not hearing about it is because Israel hasn't retaliated yet.
When they do, you'll see headlines about "Israeli Aggression” and those sorts of things.
The conflict is complex, nuanced, and can’t be summed up in an infographic, yet that is exactly what certain influencers and pseudo-intellectuals try to do. I have addressed this last year when Hamas was at war with Israel. From Instagram to national news, people were summarizing the conflict in ways that very much harmed both Israelis and Palestinians. You can read my submission on this in the Times of Israel; it is entitled ‘Responding to BBC and other Summaries on Israel.’
If it weren't for the Iron Dome, which is a 100% defensive tool to intercept rockets, the casualties would be exponentially higher; both Israeli and Palestinian. Casualties would be much higher on the Israeli side for very obvious reasons; the rockets would reach the grounds of Tel Aviv and other heavily populated cities. For Palestinians, the casualties would greatly increase because the Israeli Defense Force would have no choice but to obliterate Hamas and PIJ before they completely wipe out all of Israel. This would mean the end of surgical strikes, and notifying Palestinian civilians ahead of time through text, calls, and leaflets. It would mean carpet bombing all of the terrorist factions in Gaza and taking out literally thousands of Palestinian civilians along the way.
Then those fake headlines would actually be true.
But thank the Lord that is not the reality.
If you only engage when the mainstream news tells you to engage, you are being played. Take the time to learn. Be aware of your biases, and try to minimize them as much as possible. If you don’t think you have any, you are lying to yourself. We all do. Know them and take them into account whenever you are learning about anything. Seek truth, not narrative.
As I prepare to play another concert on my tour tonight in California, I think about my friends in Israel now. You are in my heart, and many of the songs tonight are for you. ❤️
Incredible post, Joshua. So moving. The best yet. Please keep them coming.