Why we fight

(JNS) — During World War II, a series of documentary films were made, directed by Frank Capra, that set out in explicit and graphic detail the precipitating causes and reasons why the U.S. entered the war to defeat the Axis powers, including Nazi Germany.

Before Imperial Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, many Americans were beset by doubts about the war. Even after Nazi Germany declared war on the U.S. on Dec. 11, 1941, there were still those who did not know or understand why it was so important for the U.S. to be involved.

Nazi propaganda had been hard at work for years dulling American sensibilities and outright lying to the American people to justify the Nazis’ evil deeds. The chief architect of this reprehensible propaganda program was Joseph Goebbels. His dictums included, “Accuse the other of that which you are guilty” and “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

The Capra documentaries were a clarion call that awoke Americans to the danger posed by Nazi Germany and catalyzed a nation to fight and defeat the Axis. I saw the documentaries when I was a young student. They left a lasting impression on me regarding the battle between good and evil and the imperative not to be complicit by idly standing on the sidelines.  

The genocidal terror group Hamas, the spiritual successor to the Nazis, is intent on eliminating the Jewish people and Israel. It has falsely accused Jews and Israel of genocide in a moral inversion that channels the evil techniques of the notorious Goebbels. 

The massively funded and premeditated barrage of antisemitic slurs and slogans, including the “genocide” blood libel, is poisonous to the minds of many college students and other ignorant useful dupes. They now suffer from a malady I call the “Goebbels Syndrome.” Much like the original syndrome, the cure is plain-spoken, sobering and graphic truth like that featured in the Capra-directed documentaries of yesteryear.

In this regard, the apprehensions expressed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) at the recent congressional hearings on campus antisemitism are telling. She complained bitterly about what she referred to as vile and disturbing footage on large screens. She was referring to the video footage taken by the Hamas rapists, kidnappers, murderers and perpetrators of sadistic atrocities on Oct. 7. She did not condemn the terrorists and their evil deeds.

It would appear that Hamas’s amen chorus is worried about having to face the truth of their evil deeds and intentions. The recently released horrifying video of the confessions of a Hamas father and son, who on Oct. 7, together with a cousin, gang-raped a woman and murdered her is nearly impossible to watch. So is the video depicting a group of handcuffed young women kidnapped on Oct. 7 being referred to as sex slaves by their disgusting Hamas captors. But these videos ignited the moral conscience of many. 

To the hideous Oct. 7 deniers and others suffering from the Goebbels Syndrome: Watch these videos and end your moral malaise. 

Efforts to propagate false narratives are failing because the truth is coming out and it will triumph. The overwhelming majority of the American people are not buying into the propaganda generated by Hamas and American supporters.

The good people of America are waking up and rejecting the evil that is Hamas and its repugnant sponsor the terrorist Iranian regime. Some 79 percent of Americans polled in the latest Harvard-Harris poll rightly support Israel in the war started by Hamas. 69 percent correctly believe Israel is seeking to minimize civilian casualties. 78 percent agree that Hamas must be eliminated. 74 percent favor Israel proceeding with its Rafah operation and finishing off Hamas. The poll also showed a nuanced understanding of what a ceasefire means to the American people. 66 percent oppose a ceasefire unless the hostages are released and Hamas is removed from power.

Interestingly, even the International Court of Justice didn’t wholly buy Hamas’s propaganda. They didn’t outright order a halt in military operations in Rafah. Their order stated that Israel should “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” 

Thus, the order was qualified and may be interpreted to apply only to those military operations in Rafah that may inflict such “conditions of life” on the Palestinians. In essence, Israel can continue with military operations so long as Israel complies with international law, which Israel is doing anyway. It is reported that a number of the ICJ judges support this interpretation.

It’s time for Israel to enlist a prominent Hollywood director like Steven Spielberg to make a documentary that uses documentary footage of the horrible events of Oct. 7 to explain why Israel is fighting the evil that is Hamas. 

Israel is winning its just and legal defensive ground war against Hamas. It can win the PR war too.