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Where were your tears for the victims of October 7?

Israelis visit the site of the Re'im music festival massacre, in southern Israel, Oct. 6, 2024. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

You’ve got to wonder if only certain news stories are given to Pope Francis or if he just has selective outrage for those which involve Israel, because his blatant bias is quite evident for all to see.

The latest condemnation he gave, concerned a report provided by Hamas, asserting the deaths of seven children from one family in Gaza, killed in an Israeli airstrike. Missing from his harsh rebuke was factual information or context as to the alleged strike or whether those children were being used as human shields for cowardly terrorists who found a convenient way to protect themselves. 

As usual, the word of savage murderers is believed and relied upon rather than going to the source – the Israeli military who might be able to provide a reasonable explanation as to what exactly happened. But that would not serve the pontiff well, because as a member of the clergy, whose sideline is a political activist, Pope Francis has gained the adoration of all the leftist progressive anti-Israel crowd who is grateful for the legitimacy his voice lends to their cause.  

After all, when he labels something as being “cruel,” who would argue with his assessment of evil, given his reputation as the highest spiritual authority, supposedly the divine representative of God, Almighty? 

But it’s hard to ignore the great inconsistency between his repeated condemnations of Israel and the teachings of the scripture which always admonish us to bless Israel and not curse her. In that spirit, “an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman described Francis’s intervention as particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism – a multi-front war that was forced upon it starting on October 7.”

While the pope says, “he thinks of Gaza with pain and the cruelty of the children being machine-gunned, along with the bombing of schools and hospitals,” he does not speak of the cruelty of the parents who sent young boys out to train for war in summer camps for the purpose of killing Jews. Nor does he speak about Hamas terrorists who are happy to use children and their surroundings to hide their weapons of mass destruction, or shield themselves behind homes, schools, hospitals or playgrounds.  

He never mentions the cynical use of murdered families or children by the Hamas government, all of whom serve their purpose of creating bad public relations for Israel who is then blamed for it. What about the 12 Druze children from Majdal Shams whose young lives came to an abrupt end when Hezbollah rockets killed them as they played soccer? Where was his strong condemnation then? 

The truth is that he should be weeping bitterly for the thousands of Jews who have already perished, including whole families, precious newborns and Holocaust survivors, who thought they’d never see another hell on earth, the likes of which they endured on October 7th.  

It was then, following that abysmal day of torment and anguish, that his cry should have been heard throughout the world while replacing his white robes with sackcloth and ashes, repeating the words of the prophets, whose lament over the destruction of Zion is well-documented

If this pope loved the Jewish people or their land, his words would reverberate the sentiments of the Psalmist who said, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.” (Psalm 50) His words would also echo those of the prophet Jeremiah, who reminds us that God’s love for Israel is everlasting when he declares, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” (Jer. 31:3)

The countless verses contained in the scriptures, which speak about an intense love and desire for Israel, in whom God delights, does not seem to be a passion or affection associated with this pope when considering his very one-sided critical view of anything connected to the Jewish people and their homeland. 

Given the fact that he has not felt the need to pay a personal visit, in order to extend his heartfelt condolences over the latest tragedy, which has befallen the Israeli people on their soil, already speaks volumes as to his lack of personal identity with the people chosen by God to be a light to the nations and usher in world redemption.  

Instead, he stands in judgment and condemnation, along with the nations who hate us and hope to see our demise. Hard to believe, but it is with their disdain that he finds common ground, willing to blame us for unsubstantiated claims, without recognizing that all of the pain and agony, experienced by Gazans and Israelis, solely lies at the feet of Hamas, a wicked and demonic group of barbarians who have no God nor answer to their Creator. 

They, at least, do not pretend to be merciful or hide behind a cloak of religiosity which claims to care for the souls of mankind. This is what makes the pope’s comments all the more egregious, because there is no compassion or grace behind any of his harsh accusations – only disapproval, disdain and intolerance for the people whom, if he knew God intimately, would be as beloved to him as they are of the One, he claims to represent. 

Pope Francis is in need of some real soul searching, because his belligerent and provocative attitude toward the land and people of promise is in direct contradiction to his own holy book and to the God he claims to serve. 

So long as he continues to commiserate with the same evildoers who continue to plot the destruction of the Jewish people and seize the land promised to them by God, Himself, then Pope Francis is disqualified as a man of God who speaks for the Almighty and who lives in accordance to the words of the scriptures he ostensibly reveres. 

Long after his role comes to an end, the eternal promises, made to Israel, will continue to be in effect as God personally takes up the fight against His chosen, a battle which has already begun and is picking up steam. He will avenge nations and people who held Israel in contempt, in a bitter display, which will cause them to realize that by striking the Jewish people, they struck the Defender of Israel!

These are stark truths with which Pope Francis must make peace, lest he also find himself on the wrong side of this battle between darkness and light!

A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal who made Aliyah in 1993 and became a member of Kibbutz Reim but now lives in the center of the country with her husband. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, based on the principles from the book of Proverbs - available on Amazon.

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