We cannot let the English language be counted among Hamas’ victims.
Thus far, Hamas’ terror has seen 1,400 Israelis and migrant workers of Jewish, Arab, Nepalese, Thai, Filipino, and other backgrounds raped, tortured, and killed; over 200 Israelis kidnapped, some, thankfully, released; Israeli towns and hospitals destroyed; many killed pets; at least 100 Palestinian civilians killed by their own side’s friendly fire; and an uncertain number of other Gazans caught in the crossfire. As the war continues, this victim count will only keep climbing upward.
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Last week, over 400 congressional staffers — presumably disproportionately Democratic — signed an anonymous letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. HuffPost reports that they did so “in light of ‘antisemitism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian sentiment on the rise nationwide.’” That a ceasefire would merely be a reward for the immoral hostage tactics of Hamas after the terrorist organization committed the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust seems beyond comprehension for these anonymous individuals. But this is a matter of nuance that the sort of undergraduate staffers who fill the ranks of these offices might be too naïve or inexperienced to grasp. What really stands out is the terrorism these staffers have inflicted upon the English language.
Start with “courage,” defined by Merriam-Webster as “mental or moral strength to resist opposition, danger, or hardship.” HuffPost quotes an anonymous Jewish staffer who praised a “courageous Muslim colleague who felt a profound call to speak out.” But what is courageous about an anonymous letter? To not put one’s name down is to disrespect one’s own boss and poison the free communication of employer–employee relationships throughout Congress. A great many members of Congress now will have the lingering uncertainty of whether their staffers are being honest with them. And to act only by minimizing any risk to oneself, rather than accepting that there is a cost to taking a stand, is the opposite of courage.
Compare such anonymous cowardice to the Founding Fathers who signed our Declaration of Independence. They did not send an anonymous declaration to King George. Had the Revolution gone the other way, the British would have had a convenient list of names of those who needed to be hunted down and hung at the neck until dead. America was declared by brave individuals who put everything on the line and maximized their own risk in the name of human liberty. That was courage.
Next, let’s consider the word “genocide,” defined by Merriam-Webster as “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.” The same anonymous staffer discussed “[t]he horrifying genocide in Palestine.” So did a “child of the Palestinian diaspora.” These claims are absurd. Since Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank in a war of defense in 1967, the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza combined has boomed to 5.4 million. Since Israel surrendered full control of Gaza in 2005, the Gazan population alone has grown to 2.3 million.
Now compare this to Hamas. The Hamas charter proclaims that “[t]he Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews).” Three weeks ago, 2,500 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and indiscriminately killed people without differentiation between civilian and combatant, gleefully livestreaming horrors back to Gaza. That is an organization systemically intent on genocide that has repeatedly engaged in acts of genocide whenever possible.
Finally, we have “ethnic cleansing,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity.” It has become a significant talking point that Israel’s encouraging 1.1 million Gazans to evacuate Gaza City and walk a few hours’ distance to Rafah and Khan Yunis is an act of ethnic cleansing. For reference, Rafah and Khan Yunis are cities in the southern Gaza Strip to which individuals can walk in eight or six hours, respectively. They are much closer to the Egyptian border crossing, where aid has been and will continue to enter the Gaza Strip. And Gazans have had nearly two weeks to make this short trip.
But civilian evacuation is normal and desirable in a war. In the Russo-Ukrainian war, at least 5 million have been internally displaced, and 6 million have fled as refugees elsewhere. In the Syrian civil war, 6.7 million were internally displaced and at least 7 million rendered refugees.
And on the Israeli side, 200,000 have evacuated the south of the country for safer pastures in the country’s center. Israel has begun to do the same in the north in anticipation of a second front’s opening in Lebanon. It’s asking the same of Gazans as it does of its own. To say that saving lives via evacuation and increasing Israel’s own risk to save those lives is ethnic cleansing is upside-down. In contrast, Hamas has demanded that Palestinians stay in place to serve as human shields. Behind this is an insidious assumption: The Israelis care more about Palestinian lives than Hamas does, and, by keeping civilians around, Hamas can improve its military position. Hamas “hopes” to manipulate the Israeli heart into granting it more strategic wiggle room.
Against all this madness, I have a simpler hope: that we can remember what words actually mean. Making anonymous demands of one’s boss is not courageous. Booming population numbers are not genocide. And asking people to evacuate a literal warzone to save their lives is not ethnic cleansing. This war has taken so much already — let’s not let plain English be taken from us too.
Jacob Linker is a lawyer and writer in Washington, D.C. He has been published in Townhall and Reason magazine and quoted by CNN.
