Voices around the world are crying out for peace. Professional basketball player Jared Armstrong, who was in Ashkelon when the sirens first sounded on October 7th, captured that longing when he wrote:
“That pain has not left me, and I know it is not mine alone. Families on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, continue to carry loss, trauma, and unanswered prayers.”
His prayer for peace—for children to grow up without fear, for parents to see their kids safe, for a middle path where people can live together and not apart—echoes what every parent, brother, and sister longs for.
But we cannot forget the truth: Israel did not start this war. On October 7th, Hamas unleashed brutality the world has not yet fully reckoned with—slaughtering families, raping women, burning children alive, and taking hundreds of hostages. Hamas continues to hold innocent people in dark tunnels while firing rockets from schools and hospitals, using Palestinian children as human shields. The children in Gaza are not starved by Israel. They are starved by their own corrupt leadership, Hamas—evil, pure evil—who hoard aid, rob their own people, and profit from their suffering.
That is why it is so reckless when companies like Lush UK close their shops and post slogans like “From the river to the sea,” a genocidal chant that calls for the erasure of Israel. Pretending this is solidarity is not only false, it fuels hatred and prolongs suffering. Hamas thrives on such lies. Will you call on Lush to apologize to the world for their hateful ignorance? Silence in the face of such lies only emboldens evil.
If we truly care about the children of Gaza, we must demand the end of Hamas’s reign of terror. If we care about the hostages, we must press for their release. And if we long for peace, we must stand with truth.
As Jared Armstrong reminds us: “At the end of the day we are all brothers and sisters. If we can remember that truth, we can create a future that is brighter than the pain of our past.”
Scripture reminds us: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20).
Today’s Prayer: Lord, break the grip of Hamas. Protect Israel, bring the hostages home, and feed every child caught in this war with both bread and hope. May truth prevail over lies, and may peace rise from the ashes of terror.
