As we enter the ninth day of the war started by the well-coordinated attack by Hamas out of the Gaza Strip into Israel, there are many questions to ask.

Was the war unprovoked? No, as Caitlin Johnstone pointed out in an excellent analysis, Israel (and frankly, the United States) did much to provoke a massive renewal of violence by so-called Palestinians and the various never-Israel groups. At the same time, the vicious nature of the attacks by Hamas (as we’ve pointed out before) seems designed to escalate the levels of hatred and violence to greater and greater levels. The vicious attacks remind us historically of the evils committed by two sides of our own family in Texas in the 1850s and 1860s. Not the War Between The States, but the constant raids of Comanche war parties on Anglo settlers, and vice versa.

But in that case, the hate resulted from the fighting, the rape and enslavement, the killings. This seems to be the opposite: the hate is what provokes the violence. As a TPOL commenter noted: they all hate one another. But the hate predates the last 80 years of conflict.

Is it the Israelis’ fault? As essential as many believe the blockade of 2 million people in 141 square miles, the way in which it was done and the results are abysmally bad. In the same way, the manner in which Israel and its people have treated the sojourners in their midst (the Arabs – so-called Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza) is unjust and resented. It is the cause of ever more bitter hatred on all sides.

But are the Israelis blinded by their hate? Or are the Arabs? We all know the origins of that hatred, and the events that have encouraged and been the result of that growing antipathy. (Nearly every American home has a book that explains the origins of that hatred going back 4,000+ years.) That hatred has led to thousands (if not millions) of incidents which have produced ever more vicious circles of hate, killing, cruelty, abuse, and “solutions” that solved nothing.

Golda Meir, Israeli premier, once said, ““When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” This is more true in this new war than ever: when sons must be expanded to sons and daughters.

But it seems to us that there is more than just hatred involved. There is the lust for power and wealth that uses the hate. And then, there is stupidity and hubris.

The failure of Israeli and American intel experts is glaring and hideous. Rising to a level that begs to be looked at as false-flag tactics. Did they intentionally fail to read the tea leaves? To trigger such violence to justify even worse actions? Or were they just suckered in by their own pride and arrogance?

Clifton Sherrill, a Professor of International Relations, writes at Nineteen45.com: “So why did Hamas attack? Because it sought to reverse the trend toward normalization of Israeli-Arab diplomatic ties, because it sought to regain global attention for the Palestinian issue, because it holds to an extremist Islamist ideology, and, perhaps most tellingly, because it lacked the capability to govern and sought a way out.”

While this may be true, is the Hamas leadership so inhuman as to condemn thousands of their Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters to unwilling death? Their hate of Jews justifies killing thousands (in their eyes), their fanaticism and ideology justify sending hundreds or thousands to a “glorious death” as “martyrs.” But hate and evil like this must be condemned as much as we condemn stupidity and lust for power and wealth.

One correspondent pointed out that Gaza could have been another Singapore or pre-surrender Hong Kong. Singapore has 4 million permanent population and 283 square miles, and the highest GDP per capita in the world. Double the size and population of Gaza, and while admittedly a better geography, still with no more natural resources than Gaza. But for seventeen years (since 2006) Hamas has ruled Gaza and done not just nothing to benefit the people, but actively taken actions that made the economic and social conditions immensely worse. They have successfully egged Israeli over-reaction time and time again.

As often pointed out, Hamas was “democratically” elected to power in 2006, holding 74 of 133 in the parliament representing both the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and the Gaza Strip: apparently 23 of 24 directly-elected seats in Gaza were won by Hamas. But there has not been an election since then. After Hamas essentially seceded from the Palestinian Authority the two regions are effectively completely separate political entities. Do the people of Gaza support Hamas and this new war, or are they simply completely under the domination of Hamas? (Do we even use the word “slave” to describe them?)

Some people claim that Hamas (and Palestinians as a group) have done this out of desperation. The desperation of the imprisoned willing to die rather than remain confined? The desperation of dispossessed people in agony over losing their homeland? It is certainly not the mental distress shown by the New Hampshire motto “Live Free or Die.” Else there would be rebellion in Gaza against Hamas. So desperation – unless it is desperation for more wealth and more power – does not seem to answer “why.”

Mere hatred is NOT the answer to “why” and neither is desperation. The answer seems to be not hate or desperation, but the evil of men and women who desire to increase their riches and control over others who use those emotions to accomplish their wicked goals.