Birmingham Jewish Federation volunteer Jahan Berns was born in Uganda and now is an attorney at the Birmingham-based law firm of Sirote & Permutt. A Christian, Jahan's BJF volunteer work focuses on advocating for Israel, combating anti-Semitism and building ties between Christians and Jews.

Jahan was among The BJF representatives who participated in a national Jewish Federations of North America conference call Monday. The call featured Israel's ambassador to the US Ron Dermer speaking about the current situation in Israel. Below are Jahan's reflections.

By Jahan Berns

"What kind of parent would utterly despise their children's lives so much that they deliberately put their children in harm's way simply to give expression to their anger and hatred for their fellow human beings?"

This is the question I asked myself as I listened to Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer make an amazing presentation Monday afternoon. I was reminded of how little the international community knows of -- and cares about -- Hamas' tactics of using children as human shields.

Ambassador Dermer affirmed what I had heard before -- that in its quest to make Israel look bad, Hamas has strategically chosen to set up its military infrastructure, rocket and bomb hatcheries, and missile launchers near schools, hospitals, mosques and heavily populated-civilian areas making civilian war causalities an inevitability.

With two-thirds of Israel's population under attack -- that's 200,000,000 people in US terms -- and having to run for the safety of shelters every time a rocket is headed to their areas, there is no doubt that Israel has a right to defend itself.

Israel has come under heavy criticism with many people blaming it for violating key provisions of the Hague and Geneva conventions. How can you blame a nation for trying to protect itself? I don't remember reading about any harsh criticism of Great Britain's response to the Blitz. This was the sustained German bombing campaign on British cities during the Second World War. Great Britain responded with deliberate and intensified bombing of German targets.

If the world recognized and applauded Great Britain's self-defense efforts, why is it deemed an international violation for Israel to protect itself from enemy attacks? Surely no one is expecting Israel to practice "surrenderism" in the face of open and active hostilities?

How is Israel expected to protect its citizens from rockets if it doesn't counter Hamas by destroying these missile launch pads and bomb hatcheries? Whose fault is it that Hamas specifically handpicked civilian areas to act as military sites? There is only one party to blame for civilian casualties in Gaza. It is Hamas, not Israel.

PRIVILEGE & YEARNING

I felt privileged to have been invited by The Birmingham Jewish Federation to participate in this amazingly informative call, but I also felt a yearning. I know the meaning of terror. I know what it means to see a loved one brutally attacked. I know what it means to have the forces of evil enter your life and have it changed forever.

My father was a widely-admired Ugandan soldier. He, in fact, was trained by the Israelis. However, when I was six-years-old, due to the unrest in Uganda, my father, who had become a major sectional leader, was forcefully taken from our home by betrayers and assassinated.

I know the feeling of a wounded heart and keenly understand the pain of shattered dreams and broken hopes. I carry sadness in my heart for every Israeli family whose lives have been permanently disrupted by the terror under which these valiant people have been forced to live.

I care for Jews. Not only does my Christian faith command me to do so, but I understand pain and I admire achievement. In the Jewish people and Israel, I see both. At the urging of The BJF, I recently wrote the French Consulate to express my outrage over the anti-Semitism running rampant in France, triggered in part, though not exclusively, by an influx of extremist Muslims.

The plight of French Jews is so personal to me given my international background, six years of studying French, and first-hand knowledge, from growing up in Uganda, of the insatiable hatred that radical Islam breeds in its adherents.

Because anti-Semitism continues to rise in France without much resistance, one cannot help but wonder: Is there a silent edict in France that has given the French Muslims the strong impression that they can harass and persecute Jewish people without any adverse consequences?

I am only 35-years-old but I have had a life experience that has taught me this: There are times for courage -- from people, institutions and governments. Israel is a beacon of courage, in every way imaginable; France is not. And history now calls us: Each of us, in our own way, must choose whether we are going to be Israel or France.

My choice was made long ago.

Please remember to vote in today's runoff election. Polls in Jefferson County will be open from 7 am to 7 pm. Among the most important races is the runoff for the Republican nomination for the US House of Representatives for Alabama's Sixth District which includes large parts of Birmingham. Candidates are Paul DeMarco and Gary Palmer.