I was honored to be part of the thousands of people on Tuesday night, who gathered for an event hosted by Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. “Americans for the Defense of Israel: A Night of Solidarity,” drew quite a crowd, including Diamond Bar Councilwoman Ling-Ling Chang, California State Assemblyman Curt Hagman and Deputy Consul General of Israel Yaki Lopez.

After the doors opened, it was only a matter of minutes before the gymnasium of the spacious church had to be made available. Seconds after, the gym was fairly bursting with passionate supporters of the Jewish state. The evening was truly life-changing, and as I walked out of the sanctuary into the night, I was hit with a wave of gratitude and respect for the people of Israel and for those in their defense.

Thousands of miles away in sunny California, it is effortless (but not completely faultless) for us to be blissfully unaware of the depth of terror the Israelis are forced to cope with from the moment they wake up to the moment they close their eyes. They have no clue as to when Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic terrorist group, might fire a barrage of rockets toward the very neighborhood they live in, or infiltrate their borders to kill Israeli children.

In lieu of our lack of knowledge of the current situation in Israel, we Americans are quick to condemn the Israeli troops for the civilian casualties they inflict while attempting to destroy the tunnels. Just as keynote speaker and nationally syndicated radio talk show host Dennis Prager pointed out on Tuesday evening, much of the outside world is blind to the atrocities of Hamas’ game plan. The terrorist organization reveals grisly images of dead or wounded women and children in hopes of gaining empathy for their portrayal of Israel as the bad guy hell-bent on slaughtering the residents of the Gaza Strip.

If there are any readers who wish to disagree, who declare that Israel has used an unreasonable amount of violence to preserve its safety, I want you to make a trip down memory lane and remember the inception of the present chaos. Lopez mentioned on Tuesday evening that Hamas initiated the conflict and continue to launch rockets, breaking multiple cease-fires. It is true that Israel’s airstrikes have caused a considerable amount of Palestinian fatalities, but that is largely due to Hamas’ premeditated strategy of placing its troops in and among residential communities. The terrorist force uses innocent Palestinians as human shields to protect its leaders and to turn public opinion against the Jewish state.

The people of Israel should be able to protect their state from evil forces, and we should never criticize the Israelis for exercising their God-given right. Rather, we should stand alongside Israel as they carry on with the battle that the Western powers have neglected.