In response to the pogrom by Hamas against Israeli civilians on Saturday, many people are saying that the attack was justified because Gaza is comparable to the Warsaw Ghetto. As most people (should) know, the Warsaw Ghetto was a portion of the Polish city of Warsaw into which the (remaining) Jews of Warsaw were forced by the Nazis. The Jews bravely fought against their tormentors, ultimately losing and being deported to Nazi death camps. So let’s compare the Warsaw Ghetto to Gaza.
| Warsaw Ghetto | Gaza | |
|---|---|---|
| Allowed to leave? | No. | Yes. Israel permitted thousands of Gazans to work in Israel and receive medical treatment in Israel. And Israel doesn’t restrict Gazan travel to Egypt. |
| Food and fuel provided? | Under 200 calories per day, about 10% of typical requirements. | Yes. Until Saturday’s invasion, Israel supplied Gaza with food and electricity. |
| Population | Up to 460,000. | About 2 million. |
| Population density | About 340,000 per square mile in the 1.3 square mile ghetto, with no high-rise buildings, unlike Gaza. | About 14,000 per square mile, 1/24 the density of the Warsaw Ghetto. Manhattan is 75,000 people per square mile. Washington DC is 11,500 people per square mile, inclusive of federal buildings and numerous parks. |
| Death rate | 92,000 died of starvation in the ghetto, and 300,000 died from gas or bullets, usually in concentration camps. That's a total death rate well in excess of 50,000 per 100,000 people, 5000x higher than in Gaza. | 5590 Palestinian deaths due to conflict in the 13 year period 2008–2020 across Gaza and the West Bank.[https://www.statista.com/chart/16516/israeli-palestinian-casualties-by-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank/], or 430 deaths per year, on average. Since the population of the West Bank and Gaza is about 4 million, that's a death rate of 10.75 per 100,000 per year. For comparison, the murder rate in Chicago is 15–30 per 100,000 per year. |
| Civilians killed by residents | 0 | 1200+ in one day, well over 2000 total. |
From this table, it's clear that, while life in Gaza is no picnic, it's nowhere near as bad as the Warsaw Ghetto. Ask yourself whether you'd rather live in Gaza or in the Warsaw Ghetto. However, there's one huge difference between the Warsaw Ghetto and Gaza.
The residents of the Warsaw Ghetto never massacred innocent civilians. Never. Nazi soldiers were, of course, targeted. Attacking military personnel is legal under the rules of war. However, as horrible as conditions were in the Warsaw Ghetto and as desperate as its occupants were, they never attacked innocent Polish or German civilians.
The bottom line is that there is no justification for Hamas's massacre of innocent Israeli civilians. Moreover, Gaza is no Warsaw Ghetto. Gaza is a much less dangerous and unpleasant place to live. More importantly, the prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto behaved as civilized people in very trying times. Hamas showed their true barbaric colors when they killed a thousand innocent Israeli civilians in cold blood.