How easily people lose their moral compass

Martyn Rhisiart Jones

San Martiño de Bandoxa, Friday 9th January 2026

On Friday, the 9th of January 2026, Captain (Israeli Navy, Reserves) Doctor Azi Dagan posted a short video on the LinkedIn group IOSI: Counter-Terrorism and Geopolitical Security, accompanied by the text: The Iranian regime is slaughtering the protesters. To which I replied: It’s truly terrible, a foul crime. But what did you have to say about the slaughter of more than 20,000 innocent children? The reply to that was: We would say that it’s Hamas propaganda!

I thought about this long and hard, and discussed the reply at length with friends and colleagues, and this is what I have to say by way of an open letter to Captain Dagan.

What follows is a critique made by Sir Afilonius Rex, based on my notes and our discussions.

This LinkedIn interchange is a stark example. It showcases denialism wrapped in smug dismissal. This highlights the toxic polarisation around the Gaza conflict.

Martyn Rhisiart Jones poses a pointed, moral challenge: acknowledging the “truly terrible” nature of some event (likely a specific incident), but demanding consistency… what about the slaughter of more than 20,000 innocent children in Gaza? This figure, while contested in exact breakdown, aligns with reports from credible sources like Save the Children (September 2025: over 20,000 children killed in 23 months, averaging one per hour) and Gaza’s Government Media Office/UN-cited data (cumulative Palestinian deaths ~71,000+ by early January 2026, with children consistently ~30-40% in verified subsets, though totals include combatants and indirect causes). UNICEF and others have documented “unimaginable horrors” with tens of thousands of children killed or injured overall.

Captain (Navy) Res., Dr Azi Dagan is the CEO at Eitan Hadera. His LinkedIn feed is full of pro-Israel, anti-Hamas/Iran content. He responds curtly: “We would say that it’s Hamas propaganda”.

This is not a rebuttal; it’s evasion. Dismissing documented child casualties wholesale as “Hamas propaganda” ignores:

• The Gaza Health Ministry’s figures (cited by UN OCHA, WHO, and media) have been revised over time (e.g., UN halved some women/children breakdowns in 2024-2025 due to identification issues), but the overall scale of civilian tragedy (especially children) is corroborated by independent analyses (Lancet estimates, Oxfam/AOAV comparisons showing Gaza’s child toll higher than recent conflicts).
• Even Israeli sources acknowledge high civilian deaths (IDF has claimed ~8,900-20,000 militants killed vs. total ~60,000-70,000+), with ratios debated but never denying massive child fatalities.
• Brushing it off as pure propaganda dehumanises victims and shields accountability. This is a tactic common in propaganda wars. It is intellectually bankrupt for a “CEO and naval reserve captain” to claim expertise.

Martyn calls for moral consistency; Dagan offers tribal deflection. In 2026, with the war’s toll still mounting (post-ceasefire violations killing children daily, per recent reports), this exchange exemplifies how discourse devolves: one side demands reckoning with horror, the other labels the horror fake to avoid facing it. Pathetic, dangerous, and far from the “geopolitical security” his profile claims.

TO REITERATE

In the shadowed corridors of a LinkedIn exchange on this cold January morning in 2026, two voices briefly collide. They discuss one of the gravest moral wounds of our age: the relentless toll on children in Gaza.

Martyn Rhisiart Jones, an information architect unafraid of uncomfortable truths, poses a piercing question of conscience. He acknowledges the horror of a specific crime, yet insists on consistency: what of the more than 20,000 innocent children reported killed in Gaza since the conflict’s escalation? The figure, drawn from Gaza’s Ministry of Health data cited by UN agencies and humanitarian bodies, reflects a staggering reality, though exact breakdowns remain contested amid the fog of war, identification challenges, and the inclusion of indirect deaths from disease, cold, and collapsed infrastructure. UNICEF and others have long described Gaza as a “graveyard for thousands of children,” with over 64,000 reportedly killed or maimed in the broader war by late 2025, and fresh preventable losses mounting in the fragile post-ceasefire winter.

Captain (Navy) Res., Dr Azi Dagan is the CEO of Eitan Hadera. He is also a seasoned voice in geopolitical security and responds with curt finality: “We would say that it’s Hamas propaganda.”

Here lies the tragedy of our fractured discourse. One side calls for a reckoning with shared humanity. It reflects the cry of the innocent and echoes the Gospel call to protect the little ones. Pope Francis has so often reminded us: “Children are not a problem; they are a gift.” The other retreats into tribal reflex, labelling the horror itself as fabrication to evade its weight.

In 2026, the war’s shadow lingers. Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, violations persist: Israeli strikes on January 8 alone killed at least 13-14 Palestinians, including five children, according to Gaza’s civil defence and health officials, incidents in tents, schools, and homes that claim young lives daily amid freezing rains, flooded shelters, and blocked aid. These are not abstractions; they are the faces of Hamsa Housou, an 11-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a doctor, shot in Jabalia; siblings lost in Khan Younis; infants succumbing to hypothermia.

To dismiss such suffering wholesale as “propaganda” is not merely deflection. It is a refusal of empathy. This dismissal hardens hearts and prolongs division. True security (geopolitical or spiritual) cannot flourish in denial. As Francis has urged, peace requires listening to the cry of the poor and the vulnerable. We must especially listen to the children, whose blood cries out from the earth (Gen 4:10).

This brief exchange is no mere digital spat. It mirrors a deeper malaise: when moral consistency meets categorical rejection, dialogue dies, and the path to healing recedes. In the name of humanity, let us choose the harder road. We must face the pain and mourn the lost. Let us work for a just peace where no child pays the price of adult hatred.

Please pay attention and do not lose sight of your moral compass.

Many thanks for reading.

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