I have family in Israel. My cousin, her husband, and their three children live in Herzliya. They have a complex background, and their work with humanitarian organizations adds layers to what they do, what they know, and what they have seen over the last several years. They are not beholden to the current gov’t and have been publicly critical. My cousin’s husband is fairly well known and had been quite vocal, in some cases at great risk to himself and his family.

Yet, after 10/7, they were in shock. Everyone was, some for very different reasons than others. They lost friends in the massacre and have been profoundly impacted as friends and family are now on the front lines. They have complicated feelings about war, but they have less complicated feelings about the knowledge that far too many people, including in the many countries that surround them, want them gone. Not simply relocated but exterminated. My cousin is a descendant of Armenian genocide survivors. Her husband is a descendant of Holocaust survivors. Then know what is meant by from the river to the sea no matter how the media and gov’t allies try to spin in. If that isn’t enough, Hamas, their leaders, and academics have made it clear in the many viral videos you can find.

I know the history of the region because of my family. I’ve grappled with the complexity because I have had family on both sides of the issue, but not one would ever think to diminish or deny the events of 10/7. Not one would ever think it was justified to parade the brutalized body of women in the streets and kidnap young children from their families. They are able to say Hamas is evil and should be defeated AND that they detest war, they detest conflict, they detest that it has come to this. They do not engage in genocidal messaging that we see across college campuses nor do they deny the right of others to defend Palestine.

I fear we are playing right into the hands of the terrorist groups who are waiting in the wings—at the borders of Israel. Seeing Hamas eagerly praise the protesters on their Telegram—they are salivating at the opportunity young college kids (mostly) are giving them. You know what they aren’t doing? Weeping for the dead, unless they are being filmed for a propaganda video.

I am under no illusions that Israel is blameless—that there were no opportunities over the last several decades to work harder toward peaceful solutions, but to act as if this is Israel perpetrating genocide is woefully misinformed.