{"id":8416,"date":"2024-09-02T04:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T04:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=8416"},"modified":"2024-09-02T04:48:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T04:48:18","slug":"six-more-hostages-dead-and-the-usual-blame-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/six-more-hostages-dead-and-the-usual-blame-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Six More Hostages Dead, and the Usual Blame Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>I am not “political”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won’t try convincing you that [party A] or [politico A] is to blame for everything you don’t like \u2014 while [party B] or [politico B] will solve all your problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now and then I talk about something with a political angle: like the ongoing mess in the Middle East. And I’ll admit to a bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although I realize that the situation is complex, I don’t think that killing folks at a music festival is okay. I don’t think taking hostages is okay.1<\/a><\/sup> Even if the folks responsible felt like they had high and noble reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Some rules apply in every case:
– One may never do evil so that good may result from it….”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1789)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That applies to me, too. Not that I’m likely to commit murder and kidnapping. Both of which are ‘don’t do this’ activities. (Catechism, 2258-2283, 2297)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, right. I haven’t explained what got me started on this. From my news feed, Sunday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Israel recovers bodies of six Gaza hostages<\/a>”
Jaroslav Lukiv, Adam Durbin; BBC News (September 1, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Israel says its forces have recovered the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the bodies were located on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The IDF named the hostages as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said an initial assessment was they were ‘brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Rishq, insisted Israel was responsible for their deaths, as it has refused to sign a ceasefire deal….” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Israelis erupt in protest to demand a cease-fire after 6 more hostages die in Gaza<\/a>”
Josef Federman, Melanie Lidman; AP\/Associated Press (September 1,2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Tens of thousands of grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting ‘Now! Now!’ as they demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The mass outpouring appeared to be the largest such demonstration in 11 months of war and protesters said it felt like a possible turning point, although the country is deeply divided….” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I don’t doubt that family and friends of folks who were kidnapped, and who maybe haven’t<\/strong> been killed yet, feel bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe family and friends of the maybe-still-alive hostages feel that if only their government would stop being mean to Hamas, at least for a while, they’d get their loved ones back. Alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That might even be a possible outcome of the cease-fire Hamas wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I think they, and the rest of us, might do well to remember that the folks running Hamas are the ones who started this kidnapping-and-killing spree. Unless that is ‘the fault of the Jews’, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, I can’t do a thing to free the hostages; much less unkill the folks who have been killed. But I can<\/strong> pray for everyone involved. Everyone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I will, as soon as I post this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey, prayer can’t hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve talked about this, and somewhat-related topics, before:<\/p>\n\n\n\n