They say that the lioness is the most protective of her newborn cubs, more than any other mother within the animal kingdom. The inseparable bond created by mother and child is a wonder of nature, and not just one that is exclusive to the wild but also extends to human beings.
It is the reason why there is absolutely no explanation for Gazan youth who, according to reports, have been recruited, by the thousands, to be trained by Hamas operatives to shoot at the IDF. These “training camps” for new recruits are intended to replace the 14,000-16,000 of its fighters who the IDF has killed.
Nothing could be a more beneficial photo op than Gazan youth losing their lives on the battlefield, fueling ultimate outrage, as they’re pitted against Israel’s military might. It is these kids, who have barely lived their lives, never knowing the joys of marriage, family and personal accomplishments, who are the expendable props to Hamas, serving public relations’ purposes of a war which depends upon world opinion which swiftly judges out of context.
And while all of this is predictable, given what we know about the Hamas death cult, driven by the intense hatred that they are indoctrinated with from birth, none of this is consistent with the natural role of motherhood – an innate connection, intrinsically present between a woman and her offspring, resulting in an unbreakable bond between the two, even from the moment of conception.
The biological phenomenon is both physical and emotional, based on the production of hormones, which occurs during childbirth, but later develops into the specific sounds, reactions and other stimuli that are part of the childrearing process. Obviously, breastfeeding plays a great role in this immutable attachment.
Given all of these factors, there remains no reasonable explanation as to how mothers of Gazan youth willingly send their sons out to die, often with great pride, to the point of claiming that “it is a mother’s most glorious duty for their children to kill themselves for Palestine.”
THIS DIABOLICAL and distorted position flies in the face of all we know about the maternal instinct, which is God-given and part of the female makeup, when it comes to protecting their young. It is a deviant behavior, which is neither natural, typical nor acceptable, because it defies all levels of sentiment which are part and parcel of every mother who has emotionally invested herself to the fullest, as she nurtures the child whom she sees as an extension of herself.
There is no doubt that Hamas terrorists are able to grab these children from the comfort of their families, in order to train them for war, in a battle where their chances of instant death are almost 100%, only because their mothers are willing accomplices.
Of course, it goes without saying that their fathers are no less guilty of offering up their children on the altar of sacrifice, having no qualms in their knowledge that their own family line will be discontinued, at least with these offspring.
Yet, in most cases, the bond of a father is still not as tight and unbreakable as the one between a child and his mother (daughters also, of course, but they do not become warriors, unlike their Israeli counterparts who do).
Either way, Hamas has used this apathy and careless disregard of Gazan parents to replenish their ever-depleting numbers, knowing that it’s a win-win situation: because if the child warrior is not instantly killed, he lives to fight another day, but if he is killed, the photo op is worth more to them than gold. After all, it’s another nail in the coffin that world opinion prepares for the Jewish state, which is always blamed for the suffering of children and “innocent civilians.”
What is missing from this deplorable picture is the full context of what is happening. Mothers and fathers are fully complicit in sending out their children to die for a cause which is rooted in hatred, terror and evil – three of the most important things against which every parent should guard their progeny.
The fact that mothers, especially, can’t understand the odds facing their kids – or, in this case, don’t even care about the likelihood of their deaths – is a shameful and disgraceful commentary on them as clearly not possessing the most basic human characteristics of reason, logic, feeling and caring.
WHEN YOU listen to an interview, where the wife of a Hamas operative unashamedly says that she and her husband, as well as their children, all pray that Allah would grant them martyrdom, it makes you wonder: What are they living for? It’s certainly not for any hopeful future that will bring these families pride, joy and a sense of accomplishment. On the contrary – they are essentially giving up on a future with grandchildren and a fulfilling end.
These mothers have literally been programmed to accept death as a blessing, another shocking anomaly from the way normal people respond to the loss of a beloved family member. It is this total, extreme departure of human values that must be completely rejected by any individual who claims to be part of a race of people who strive to possess higher ethics than those of savage animals.
There is no question that once parents begin to value the lives of the children who came from their own loins, terrorists such as Hamas will no longer be able to exploit the people for whom they say they are championing.
But not only is it incumbent upon these Gazan families to reject the call for their children to become casualties in an unwinnable war, but it is also the responsibility of people throughout the world to view these events as the human tragedy of our day, rivaling the biblical account of parents who offered up their children to the Canaanite god Molech, a truly homicidal act.
For how can humanity, which claims to grieve over senseless death, close its eyes to the heartless acts of parents, without whose approval the death of their children would not occur? To ignore their complicity is to excuse parents and terrorists for the wholesale murder of their children, making society a willing participant in the deplorable crimes that are being committed against an entire generation of kids, who will never have the chances they could have. It is the height of hypocrisy and must be emphasized to the fullest.
Until world outcry can be heard for these sacrificial lambs, there is nothing the world can offer by way of honest judgment or placing the guilt on whom it rightly belongs.
The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, available on Amazon, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs.