For about the last six months, Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian groups have been at war along the Gaza Strip. As tensions have ebbed and flowed, it’s been sad to watch the destruction and devastation — but what about the stories we don’t see in nearby countries?
Browsing: War
As normal people on our own, we can’t really do anything that will put a stop to the bombings, the injury, the genocide. However, as a collective, we can put in an effort to attain peace by providing humanitarian aid, writing to Congress for cease-fire, supporting Palestinian-owned businesses or even just spreading the word on how to help if you don’t have much to give. In the grand scheme of the war, these acts may seem small, but the truth is that Gazans will take all the help they can get.
Although it’s easy to miss them on walks to class, the red granite lampposts scattered around campus commemorate Baylor men and women who served the United States — many of whom died in combat.
Five faculty members spoke in a Baylor-hosted discussion on Israel and Palestine Wednesday to help students, faculty and staff “learn and understand the political, historical, and religious context to the war now being waged,” according to the Office of the President.
There is honest and healthy debate to be had about Israeli politics and the path toward permanent peace in the region. But Hamas wants to play no role in that discussion. Hamas wants nothing but the death of the Jewish people. They have said so for years, and this Simchat Torah we watched in horror as they sought to make good on their word.
This is not something that can or should be reduced to a single repost in support of Israel or in support of Palestine. People are dying. Violence is ongoing. Having tunnel-vision on one opinion or another and making this about taking sides is insensitive. Violence to this extent is wrong, no matter what.
Death tolls continue to rise in Israel and Palestine after Hamas — the governing Palestinian body in the Gaza Strip — launched a surprise attack on Israel Saturday. In retaliation, Israel sent air strikes to the Gaza Strip Monday.
The newly created Biblical Journeys in the Holy Land study abroad program has been postponed from May 2024 to January 2025 due to the escalating Israel-Hamas War. Trip coordinator Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott said faculty will keep a very close eye on the situation in collaboration with the Study Abroad Office.
“I think by offering this course and making it permanent, Baylor is offering an important counterweight to the excessive focus that has existed for Russia for decades … at this institution,” Kudelia said. “The war is only a reminder of how significant this region is for the world, but Russia is not going to go away, and Ukraine is not going to go away. And the problem that we have in Russian and Ukrainian relationships are problems that will not be solved easily over the next couple of months or years.”
President Barack Obama vigorously defended his foreign policy record Monday, arguing that his cautious approach to global problems has avoided the type of missteps that contributed to a “disastrous” decade of war for the United States.