This past Saturday afternoon, the unthinkable happened in the quiet Druze town of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights. Twelve children, engaged in the simple joy of playing soccer, were brutally killed by a Hezbollah rocket. These were not soldiers, not combatants, but innocent kids enjoying a game on a field.
This horrific incident throws into sharp relief the hypocrisy that has plagued discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly on North American college campuses. For months, we’ve witnessed impassioned protests against Israel’s supposed actions, with demonstrators waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags, burning American flags and falsely accusing Israel of targeting civilians and committing genocide.
Yet in the wake of the Majdal Shams massacre, a clear and deliberate attack on a civilian population that resulted in the deaths of 12 children, where are these self-proclaimed champions of human rights?
Israel has long warned the world about the true nature of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Unlike the unavoidable civilian casualties that occur in any conflict, these organizations deliberately target non-combatants, both Israeli civilians and their own civilians who they use as human shields. In the case of Hamas, they even kill their own civilians who are trying to obtain food and humanitarian aid supplied by Israel and other nations.
The attack in Majdal Shams was not an aberration but a continuation of their modus operandi. It’s a stark reminder of the Oct. 7 atrocities, in which women were raped and children were butchered.
The silence from campus protesters and other anti-Israel protesters in the face of this attack is very revealing. It exposes the hollowness of their supposed concern for human rights.
When Jewish children are the victims, the protesters rationalize or ignore the crimes. But now, when Druze children are the victims, the protesters’ silence speaks volumes. It suggests that their outrage is not about protecting the innocent but about opposing Israel at all costs.
The same held true when Iran fired 300 missiles and drones at Israel on April 13 and the only person injured—thanks to a sheer miraculous effort by Israel, the United States and other allies—was a seven-year-old Bedouin girl named Amina Hassouna from the town of Al-Fura. Amina was in serious condition, had to undergo several surgeries and was finally released from Soroka Hospital on Sunday.
Majdal Shams has an ambiguous status. It came under Israeli rule in 1967 due to the Six-Day War and not all its residents are Israeli citizens. Many retain strong ties to Syria. Nonetheless, as Druze, their loss is keenly felt in Israel because Druze citizens of Israel serve in the military, enjoy equal rights and are well-respected by all Israelis.
The unity in grief that Israelis felt after the Majdal Shams attack defied the simplistic portrayal of Israel pushed by its detractors. For example, high-tech companies in Tel Aviv canceled social activities and fun days for their employees out of respect for the victims. To Hezbollah, this is about destroying Israel; but for Israelis, it is another sign of why we need to be united. The attack was against all Israel and the freedoms it represents; the same freedoms that the U.S. and other world democracies were founded upon.
But where is the condemnation of the attack from world leaders? Notably absent was any statement from U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Recently, she met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and seemed to equate all sides in the conflict. How can one equate a democratic government with organizations that deliberately murder children? Harris’s silence in the face of the Majdal Shams atrocity is troubling and requires explanation.
To those who have been protesting against Israel: Where are your voices now? You who raised Hamas and Hezbollah flags, will you now condemn these actions? Will you speak out against Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran? Or does your silence confirm that your concern was never truly about human rights, but rather a thinly veiled antipathy towards Israel and, by extension, all Jews?
It’s time for honest reflection. Those who claim to stand for justice and human rights must condemn the Majdal Shams attack unequivocally. They must recognize that organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah are not freedom fighters but terrorists who do not hesitate to murder children to achieve their goals.
True advocacy for peace and human rights cannot be selective. It must condemn atrocities wherever they occur, regardless of who commits them. Anything less is not activism; it’s hypocrisy.