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I logged into Facebook today for the first time in ages to find out what people were saying. I logged out again shortly afterwards, disappointed. 

I searched in vain for even a modicum of condemnation of the reported attrocites which set in motion all of the heartbreaking tragedy which has followed. No, but nothing.

It is as if our tradition has nothing noble at all to say about the rules of engagement in war. Even if you adamantly believed that all the reports were pure propaganda, now would have been the time to disown those alleged actions absolutely.

To confirm that in our tradition it is categorically forbidden to target civilians even in a declared war. To state that whatever the crimes of your enemies, the sancity of innocent life remains paramount.

Words like these I hoped to hear from our communal talking heads, in defence of the virtuous way of life we claim to uphold. Logging on, I hoped a humble sage might whisper: this is the madness that unfolds when we abandon our ethics and law.

No, but instead, contextualisation that was not required. We all know the reality of this brutal occupation. We know the relentless tyranny the people of Palestine are subjected to daily. We know of the barbaric force used to obliterate whole neighbourhoods whenever their military heads to war.

This was a moment to delve into the treasury of wisdom of a tradition we claim to uphold, but seem intent on sacrificing at every juncture when required to actually make a decision about how we interact with the world. Could we find no noble example to call upon?

It is all too late now anyway. The merciless army has marched into battle, sending its fighter jets to pulverise any neighbourhood that may have harboured a terrorist. Hundreds of children have had their young lives torn away from them. An entire civilian population has been terrorised in revenge.

What was the strategy of the attackers on Saturday, nobody asks. Grudgingly, the Hamas spokesman now says it was all an accident. They planned one thing, they say, but it all got out of hand. Convincing, perhaps, if you ignore the inconvenient facts.

It seems many of my brethren are prepared to give this accident-prone organisation the benefit of the doubt. Yes, no matter how many times their accidents invite the most powerful airforce in the region to rain bombs down on residential tower blocks, we must repeat the mantra that Hamas is merely a symptom of the occupation.

Thus, logging into Facebook proved a fruitless quest. Everyone I once knew is thoroughly convinced that reports of the weekend’s events are just lies upon lies. Mere propaganda designed to serve as the pretext for an upcoming genocide.

Expect fair comment in vain. It’s too late now. We must prepare instead for another of those battles to end all battles. Ask not about the fate of the innocents. We have sacrificed our ethics, so who knows what will now unfold.