Musings

Documenting Mass Violence – Rapid-Response Case Study Essay

History 5579 Intro to Public History Fall 2023

Palestinian group Hamas committed an act of Mass Violence on October 7, 2023, in Israel. The bigger story, though, is the scale and perplexing nature of the global response to this blatant act of terror against innocents.  Public and academic historians must gather data on this widespread condoning of the horrific atrocities that followed in the first few weeks after the massacre…as the modern phenomena of social media consumption is likely to change the nature of the overall reaction in a relatively short time.  How such an act could be viewed favorably by so many so quickly demands study and analysis to be understood.

On that day, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip launched a surprise attack on Israel and killed more than 1,200 citizens, injured another 6,900, and took 236 hostages including children and elderly.  Thousands of armed Hamas breeched the border fence separating Israel from Gaza and indiscriminately gunned down civilians in their homes and surprising soldiers in military bases. Hamas stormed beaches on motorboats and some paraglided into Israel to launch an attack on an open-air music festival killing innocents.  Some Israeli victims were raped and there were numerous incidents of heads, feet, and hands chopped off and other signs of torture. On that same day, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza launched over 2,000 missiles into Israel. (1)(7)

While Israelis have suffered more total deaths in its various conflicts since its founding in 1948, the October 7 event represents the most civilian deaths suffered by Jews in a day since the atrocities committed in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. (2) Israel’s response was predictable and lethal – in just over a month of ongoing conflict over 14,000 people have been killed and 35,000 injured as Israel launched a campaign to eradicate Hamas. 

Leaders on both sides have vowed to carry the fight to the end.  Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, praised the brutal attack the group carried out in Israel and said if given the opportunity, they would carry out similar assaults repeatedly in the future with the goal of eliminating Israel. “Israel is a country that has no place on our land. We must remove it because it constitutes a security, military, and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nations,” he said. (3) Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated, “Hamas will be demilitarized; there will be no further threat from the Gaza Strip on Israel, and to ensure that, for all long as necessary, IDF will control Gaza security to prevent terror from there.” (4)

Acts of War and ongoing military and terrorist engagements are examples of extreme Mass Violence.  The details will be avidly documented and archived by professional and amateur historians of all types and official and unofficial organizations will collect artifacts.  Undoubtedly, the Israelis have sophisticated methods and extensive resources plus countless allied groups to help collect their stories and add this latest chapter to their collective memory.  Less certain and more precarious are the abilities, resources, and motivations for the Palestinian side to adequately collect their stories and mementos as the crises and its aftermath unfold.  It is hoped that some elements of the extensive global aid societies embedded in Gaza can act as field historians within the chaos.

But the brutality of this latest chapter in the Middle East is dwarfed by the global response to it.  Most interesting to future historians will be trying to understand how the news and immediate interpretations of the events were so quickly distorted and acted upon.  The speed at which social media’s impact on the nature of mass movements is evolving needs to be documented, observed, and eventually understood.  Academic and public historians have an immediate role in capturing the raw data and then helping shape a nuanced change in how educators prepare the public to assess the flood of information battering them incessantly.

A glaring example of social media manipulation occurred early in the conflict and likely caused even more people to die needlessly.  Right before the U.S. President arrived in the region to meet with the leaders of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian authority…news agencies reported an Israeli rocket hit a Gaza hospital and killed hundreds of people.  In protest, the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian authority refused to meet with President Biden.  In reality, the missile was misfired from a Gaza militant group, it hit the hospital parking lot, and dozens (not hundreds) were killed.  It took days for mainstream media outlets to correct their reporting, and Hamas and other partisan media outlets never did publish corrections. 

Disinformation from Hamas won this round…once bad information gets out it is impossible to reign it back in – and it becomes reality with real world consequences.  Historians must tell this story in hopes it prevents future mistakes with even worse outcomes.

The other aspect of this event that must be documented is the inexplicable embrace of Hamas and rejection of Israel by a sizable minority of educated Americans.  More than 50 student groups across the U.S. have expressed their support for Palestine and the actions of the militant group Hamas in a letter published on social media. “We call to attention that the Israeli occupation has created a multi-generational diaspora that is inextricably linked to the insurmountable destruction of the Palestinian way of life. Hence, Israel, as a settler colonial state, renders Palestinian existence inherently an act of resistance. We invariably reject Israel’s framing as a victim.” (5)  Similarly, over 30 student organizations at Harvard signed a letter supporting Hamas actions in Israel.

It is assumed these student groups also stand for these basic rights – individual liberty, scientific inquiry, rule of law, religious freedom, human rights, democracy, trial by jury, freedom of speech, a woman’s right to education, no honor killings, LGBT rights, and a woman’s right to wear clothing of her choice – all concepts rejected by Hamas.  Extensive oral histories are needed to understand how students came to perceive the world in a way that caused them to celebrate groups that are completely opposed to the values the students claim to honor.

The general American ignorance of geography and scale could help explain the general lack of empathy for the Israeli and Palestinian condition.  Try this…start where I-35 crosses from Missouri into Iowa, draw a line to Lawrence, Kansas, then down to Joplin, Missouri, and then complete the line back to the start.  That is Israel…about 10% of the size of Kansas.  Now imagine Lawrence about twice its size and 10 times the population…that is the Gaza Strip.  As a Kansas Citian, now imagine Lawrence being heavily militarized with the stated objective of attacking and killing your family and neighbors until you leave the area forever.  What policies and interventions would you expect from your government and military?   Would you find it acceptable for those people that hate you in Lawrence to have the capability to drive 30 minutes and attack you?  That is a real choice Israelis live with every day.  If Hamas put down their guns…the Palestinian people would be on a path to a better life.  If Israel puts down their guns, they will be slaughtered immediately.

This latest case of extreme mass violence is still happening and collecting the stories, emotions, protests, and artifacts of the anti-Israeli movement must be done carefully and with respect.  Historians collecting data must be aware if their data could be used against individuals and refrain from unnecessarily compromising their subjects.  As Eric Hoffer stated, “The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.” (6) As historians our job is to increase the capacity of “the middle” to help more people from being manipulated by the best and the worst among us.  We are experiencing what it is like to have so many talented young minds unwittingly molded by an artificial world in their hands…historians need to be in the trenches to understand then help correct the course of society.

James N. Meeks, Student, University of Missouri-Kansas City

• https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006
• https://www.timesofisrael.com/was-hamass-attack-on-saturday-the-bloodiest-day-for-jews-since-the-holocaust/
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/hamas-official-vows-to-repeat-oct-7-attack-repeatedly-to-teach-israel-a-lesson/articleshow/104903949.cms
• https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-vows-to-defeat-hamas-even-if-israel-has-to-stand-firm-against-the-world/
• https://themessenger.com/news/hamas-resistance-in-palestine-51-student-organizations-sign-letter-pledging-support
• https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/17715-the-true-believer-thoughts-on-the-nature-of-mass-movements

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-forensic-teams-describe-signs-torture-abuse-2023-10-15/