Columbia and Harvard students blame Israel for the Hamas attacks?

These people are supposed to be educated? How about understanding that Gaza is controlled by Hamas, not Israel

Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to “open the gates of hell,” and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence. The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years. From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.

Today, the Palestinian ordeal enters into uncharted territory. The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.

So just so we are clear, Hamas attacked Israel, killed nearly 1000 people, including many American citizens. They kidnapped, raped, and tortured people on camera. They now threaten to execute people on camera. But Israel is the bad guy here? Israel does not occupy Gaza and hasn't in nearly two decades. How is it that Israel and the Jews are always responsible for how the rest of the Middle East decides to live. If Gaza is such a hell hole, then why not move to any number of Muslim countries where the conditions would be better than living under a terror regime who actively promote violence.

Nope. The problem when you get down to the nitty gritty is that many of these Palestinians choose to live in squalor because they do not want to concede the idea that every single Jew on the planet should be killed off and the entire country of Israel should be turned over to them. If you literally asked them what they want. What would it be short of all the Jews moving away so they can take back Israel? If they had their way, they might just slaughter them all, rather than give them the option of moving.

Obviously things have been in flux for centuries in that area. But about 100 years ago, Jewish people started resettling back to Israel and by the 1940s they made up about a third of population in the region but occupied less than 10% of the land. A variety of settlements since then have been proposed, rejected, proposed, rejected. Some implemented by other powers, some not so much. You toss in a couple full scale wars and untold number of military and terror attacks later, we are where we are today. With the Jewish people controlling about 60% of the land in Israel, while the Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank and Gaza strip. The suggestion is that Israel "occupies" the West Bank largely because of a military presence that has come from the frequent terror attacks that start from within. But that land is generally occupied by Palestinians.

What seems fair to both sides all depends on how far back in history you chose to go. You can go back centuries and find Muslims, Christians, and Jews controlling parts of the land there at various times. Generally each side picks their time in history where they had occupied the most land and demand that was what was fair and just and that they have some sacred right to set things back to those days.

I seriously do not know what is fair and what isn't. While the Jewish community controls a larger area of land in comparison to the Palestinians for all practical purposes there is no where else for Jews to go within the Middle East. Meanwhile the Palestinians are largely made up of Muslims from other parts of the Middle East who have chosen to settle in that area of the world. Palestinians are largely associated with Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Maybe those are not the places that they want to live, but they are places they could live. The Israeli Jews have no other home other than Israel.

But then again. This is just the opinion of someone who happens to review the actual history, which is probably frowned upon by those who might disagree. On top of that I just have one of those State School College degrees rather than a special one from and Ivy League, so what do I know?