Hate Begets Hate

I remember where I was on October 7th 2023 when I heard the news that hate had caused more violence and needless suffering. However, what shocked me most was my friend’s reaction and what it forced me to learn about myself.

I’ve always been an ardent supporter of Israel. You don’t have to take my word for it, you can read my past posts defending Israel. In some ways it’s natural, when I was 10 years old my mother moved the family to Israel, not as Jews but as Christians to proselytize and to become closer to God. I came during the time of Yitzhak Rabin and the Oslo Accords, a time when peace felt within reach. Then, Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist while other extremists showed their hate by blowing up buses. As a child I couldn’t comprehend killing innocents to advance an agenda.

I also really enjoyed the three years I spent in Israel. Having spent most of my childhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma it was a breath of fresh air. In a society full of unique immigrants, I felt accepted. It was there that I first began to understand my own sexuality. As a now out gay man, the idea that Jews would have been asked to hide who they were or even convert to Christianity to become part of their surrounding society emboldened the idea that they should control their own destiny.

On the other hand, I knew my friend was vocal about the Palestinian cause. As a person with deep connections to the indigenous community in New York, it was natural. However, when he expressed a joy at the suffering of Israelis, it hardened me. It doubled my resolve to support a people who had become refugees after World War II that most countries turned away and caused them to return to a land they had ties to.

However, as a compassionate man I knew that hate was not productive. I never supported the increasingly hardline position of refusal of successive Israeli governments to negotiate a peace. Then the world saw the Israeli response that was clearly designed to create suffering based on a hatred. In fact over 175,000 Palestinians have been injured and at least 74,640 have been killed.

I knew what Israel was doing was wrong. There was no justification to explain the mass murdering of innocent boys and girls. However I knew hatred was not the response. Hatred is what caused the Oslo Accords to stall and the violence that followed only deepened the hatred in the Israeli Public.

The recent October 2026 Israeli elections offer a stark picture. Though there is hope with the results of the Arab parties reaching the most seats ever, the vast majority of political factions still have no viable plan for a just peace. You have a society that seems so blinded to its own bigotry and polarization.

It is unfortunate that the hatred on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian issue has only caused more suffering. It is clear that Israel shares a huge responsibility and that we must hold her accountable and refuse to be complicit. That doesn’t mean I cheer at anyone’s suffering or that I believe in hatred for the State of Israel or hatred for the Jews who escaped World War II and wanted to create a home where they controlled their destiny. Hatred from one side is never an excuse to hate. We can’t allow hatred to beget hatred.