A reader who is, like me, a Muslim read my posts on the attacks of Muslims (mostly Arabs) in Europe against Jews (who have nothing whatsoever to do with anything Israel does other than that most Israelis are Jewish as well) and about civilian casualties caused by the war between Israel and Hamas, asked me why I think it permissible for Israel to carry out any strikes against Hamas targets that cause collateral damage (meaning, civilian casualties). If killing innocent civilians is wrong, why does Israel get a free pass for killing any civilians?

The answer to the question is quite simple, but should be published at the front page of this blog rather than in a comment section because the question has been asked by more people; seemingly, this question is on the mind of a great deal of people, most of whom fellow Muslims.

Before we get started, it has to be explained to non-Muslim readers that the Qur’an explicitly and clearly forbids the killing of innocent civilians, especially children. The Qur’an states that he who kills one innocent person is like someone who kills the whole of mankind. Since the Qur’an is so clear about this matter, should I not condemn Israel for each and every Palestinian who gets killed in the rather bloody (but not more bloody than most modern wars) battle between the IDF and Hamas?

Well, no. The reason is that one has to ask who is and who is not responsible for these deaths. If Israel takes care not to kill innocent civilians, but if civilians get killed nonetheless because Hamas attacks Israeli forces while hiding behind a human shield, is Israel or Hamas responsible for innocent deaths when Israel strikes back in self defense? Common sense brings me to the conclusion that the answer is Hamas, not Israel.

Every government on earth has the responsibility to protect its own people. Other peoples should be respected and treated humanely, but protecting them is not the responsibility of a foreign government. Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni’s main responsibility, then, is to protect the Israeli people against terrorist attacks from Hamas (and other organizations). They cannot possibly be expected to do so without fighting back when Hamas crosses the line and fires rockets at Israeli villages and towns; defending your people means, sadly, you may have to use force against enemies.

If the Israeli government would not respond to Hamas’ attacks, and would not attempt to destroy this terrorist organization (which oppresses its own people, adhering to a distorted even fascist interpretation of Islam), it would forsake its responsibility and duty towards its own people.

This means that Israel has to attack Hamas. Not because it wants war, but because not doing so would also result in suffering for innocent individuals, albeit not Palestinians but Israelis.

Having established that Israel has to respond with force, one has to look at how a war should be fought. The answer to this question is, again, simple (also see my earlier post on civilian casualties but also the other post mentioned): war should be waged in as humane a way as possible, one should not transgress the limits of a justifiable response (see Qur’an 2:190), and civilian casualties should, in principle, be prevented.

However, the circumstances on the ground do not allow Israel to strike against Hamas without causing any civilian casualties. The reason for this is that Hamas hides behind “a human shield” (in the words of a leader of this organization). Its members shoot at Israeli soldiers and fire rockets at Israel from normal neighborhoods, after which they quickly flee and hide in normal houses, mosques, hospitals, etc. In order to kill these Hamas terrorists, so as to remove the threat they pose to the Israeli people, the IDF uses force. Sadly, civilians get killed in this process.

But Israel is not to blame for this; Hamas is since it is purposefully hiding behind civilians, while knowing that Israel has no choice but to respond violently. Of course, Israel should attack in such a way that collateral damage is limited. But it cannot prevent it, for Hamas does not allow Israel to carry out any attacks without also killing Palestinian civilians.

If we look at what the prophet Muhammad said about war (Ahmad Diya’al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, Vol. 1, 84/8) we read the following: “Go to war in adherence to the religion of God. Never touch the elderly, women or children. Always improve their situation and be kind to them. God loves those who are sincere.” Who is, in this case, truly touching “the elderly, women and children”? Israel, or Hamas. Who is truly responsible for their suffering, Israel or Hamas? The answer is Hamas – Hamas who use them as a human shield and happily sacrifice the innocent.

I realize that emotions are likely to take over when one speaks about war and, especially, the death of innocents. However, I am very confident in the above explanation, believing it is a reasonable and rational view on the war and collateral damage. I urge Muslim readers to keep Qur’an 4:58 in mind when they read this post, and think about it: “God commands you to return to their owners the things you hold on trust and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice. How excellent is what God exhorts you to do! God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”