Tuesday, December 14th, 2023

It’s Complicated is a great two-word phrase that generally shuts up the person who’s looking for information. The phrase implies that there are so many issues involved that a lengthy explanation and further discussion are warranted. It’s a perfect title for that great Meryl Streep movie about the, well, complicated relationship of the characters in the film. And I’m always amused that the dropdown menu for Facebook profile relationships includes It’s complicated in addition to the regular choices of Married, Single, Divorced and the like.  

In describing the situation in the Middle East, commentators and analysts are often heard to say, “It’s complicated.” Actually, no it isn’t. In fact, the situation in the Middle East is about as UNcomplicated as one could imagine. It’s as uncomplicated as this: One side wants peace, one side wants the other side dead. Can’t get much simpler than that.

And what about the ceasefire? Complicated? I don’t think so. It’s pretty straightforward. There’s a war because we still don’t have the hostages back. None of the critics seem to remember that there are innocent hostages – civilians, moms, babies, teens — being held by a terrorist organization, with no news whatsoever for their families. No one knows who’s dead, who’s alive. No one knows if these innocent people are being beaten, starved, raped, tortured, locked up in a cage (some released hostages testified that some girls were, in fact, kept in a cage), or suffering in ways that we don’t allow our minds to consider. Release the hostages and then we can talk about a ceasefire. Not complicated at all.

There are those who say that the IDF doesn’t care about innocent Palestinian civilian casualties. Are you kidding me?! Listen, and listen well: If Israel didn’t care about Palestinian casualties, the war would have been over on October 8th. And that is extremely uncomplicated.

Am Yisrael Chai!