Chabad: Den of Zionism

**Update: they finally posted my comment, several days after I had submitted it. Normally, my comments on other non-controversial articles have been posted within a few hours; thus, waiting several days to post this one seemed very suspicious.**

Naturally the conflict with Gaza has not only created a stir at Chabad, but also an entire new "War in Gaza" section. One pertinent Q&A was, "We are commanded to judge everyone positively, and with love. How do we apply this to the Palestinians, who wish to wipe Israel off the face of the earth?"

Within the answer was this gem: ". . . when a population is indoctrinated by its leaders, both political and spiritual, to do evil.... When a whole population is indoctrinated with hatred... Then those that this population is intent on destroying must take every measure to protect themselves."

I quoted that portion in a reply, and added that you can reread that statement and think of the Israelis. I added that name-calling (such as "terrorist" and "Nazi" [which was used in another comment]) were unproductive and that you cannot brush an entire population with a stereotype. I added that I pray for the innocent whoever and wherever they are.

The comment was rejected.

What does this tell us about the unwillingness to view things from any perspective other than the one already adhered to? It's funny how on the surface of studying Torah and Judaism in general, there is this near-myth of openness. That everything, including the existence of God, is open for question. Yet, there is a huge elephantine asterisk that ought not be overlooked: not all things and not all people can question/be questioned. Israel and the IDF are cases in point.

The crisis really does drip with irony. On Chabad, a breaking news story was "Palestinian Rocket Inflicts Heavy Damage on Chabad Rabbi’s Home"; compare that to the Washington Post article "Family Mourns 5 Daughters as Civilian Death Toll Mounts". Both are horrible realities of war, but there is an obvious disconnect when you lament the destruction of a home, and claim the family with five deceased girls somehow are not worthy of a mention and had it coming. Using Hamas as a scapegoat for acts such as this is ridiculous. By the same token, the blockade of Gaza and the refusal to recognize the democratically elected government in Gaza is just cause to launch rockets into people's homes in southern Israel. Innocence is innocence and the decisions of the leaders ought not be a scapegoat to free reign of destruction over the common people, period.

The inability to say so on Chabad's comments section just shows how much that quote of indoctrination really is apt for many Zionists. There is no middle ground, there is no relenting: there is only black and white, right and wrong, and they are more sure than they are about the existence of God that they are on the right side.