[Editor's note: The piece below was written partly as a response to Alison Moule's article in the Wpg Free Press, "I am Jewish and I want Freedom for Palestinians," which can be found herehttps://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2023/11/22/i-am-jewish-and-i-want-freedom-for-palestinians

The season has come to an end for Canadian football fans.  Many of us spent hours watching from our armchairs various plays being made by our team and opposing teams. Much of the time we had no idea of the coaching staff's strategy, and yet we judged and questioned from the comfort of our armchairs, the merits of what took place on the field. As fans, we are inclined to think we know better and so we yelled and we shouted and we rendered verdicts.  I don't know football really, so I just watched.

The war between Hamas and Israel that is raging, is no football game.  It is terrifyingly brutal and there will be no victor.  And yet, it has become like a game of sorts outside of the countries where death and destruction are taking place.  We are sitting and watching it all unfold, oftentimes without adequate context or understanding. We are serving, not as passive observers, but as vocal armchair quarterbacks.  We don't really know, but we think we know and this is dangerous and has huge repercussions.

What we do know as fact, is that on October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel from Gaza and not just brutally and savagely terrorized, raped, murdered, burned and kidnapped Israelis, but set in motion the situation that is occurring thousands of miles away in the Middle East?.  What we do know as fact is that the suffering of human beings as a result of this barbaric act perpetrated by a recognized Terrorist organization, is unbearable and indescribable and, as decent human beings, we are filled with outrage, heartbreak and despair. In football, when the ball is caught there can be no denying it was caught.  It is reality.  It is recorded.

Many armchair quarterbacks accuse Israel of being responsible for the kickoff; of being apartheid in the Gaza context, but this is the actual playbook:

In 2005, it is a fact that Israel withdrew from Gaza and was hopeful that if the people of Gaza succeeded, then Israel would also succeed.  This was the philosophy of many of those who chose to live on the Kibbutzim in close proximity with Gaza.  That was the vision of many who were massacred on October 7, 2023 including Winnipeg born Vivian Silver.

It is a fact that Gazans elected Hamas to be their government in 2006 and that world aid poured into Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal.  It is estimated that close to a billion dollars had been sent in aid to Gaza since Israel's withdrawal in 2005. Armchair quarterbacks, one would think, would question the accountability for the money that was designated for humanitarian needs in Ga?za, but seemingly did not reach the innocent Gazans?.  They should also wonder why there had been no oversight of the money that was allocated by world nations. When you armchair quarterback you tend to analyze only the plays that you believe are relevant and dismiss those you believe, are not.

The people of Gaza needed to work. As of October 7, it is a fact that an estimated 18,500 Gazans had been granted work permits to enter Israel for employment on a daily basis.  And as with any border, there were checkpoints for entering Israel.  It is the right of a country to accept or deny access to people entering. Canadians and US citizens cross daily to work in the neighbouring country and have border crossings to check their permits.  That process is far more complicated in a place like the Middle East with tremendous security concerns and yet, it happened and was a win-win.  Israel had an additional labour force and the people of Gaza could earn a living.
 

Armchair quarterbacks can think their favorite players are sitting on the bench too much when they are actually right in the game. It is a fact that Israel's population is 9.2 million and out of that number, more than 2 million Arabs hold citizenship.  There is currently a Muslim Arab who is a Supreme Court Justice and 10 Israeli Arabs currently hold positions in Israel's Knesset (Parliament). Based on 2021 statistics, it is a fact that 47% of new doctors in Israel are Israeli Arabs and Druze and 48% of all pharmacists in Israel are Arabs.  Twenty-four percent of nurses in Israel are Arab and Arabs hold positions in all areas of Israeli life; they are teachers, educators, construction workers and are part of the high-tech sector. Hardly the apartheid state that many armchair quarterbacks accuse Israel of being.

It is a fact that Israel is a democracy.  For months prior to October 7, Israeli citizens exercised their democratic right and peacefully conducted massive demonstrations to speak out against the pending policies of their elected government.  There was no looting, no violence, no government suppression of their right to protest. The people of Israel did not like the direction that country was heading and they didn't rest in the bleachers, they pushed back and scrimmaged to ensure that cherished democratic values prevailed.

In spite of these facts, the region is complicated and the political situation complex. When you are removed from the reality of any situation, how easy it is to pass judgement, to criticize and to place blame. When you haven't experienced the playing field, invested the time to properly study the history or aren't privy to all of the intricacies and all of the challenges, how convenient it can be to espouse what is right, what is wrong, what should be ?and what should not.  Oh yes, we can sit so comfortably in our lazy boy recliners pompously thinking that we know best.  But, we do not. In the dreadful match at hand the only thing that is known for certain is unimaginable loss; loss that is made more painful by the self-righteous and ill-informed armchair quarterbacks.