The English language is constantly changing. Sometimes a person’s or group’s name becomes a verb.

We boycott because of Charles Boycott. We lynch because of William Lynch. We pasteurize because of Louis Pasteur. We sandwich because of the Earl of Sandwich.

The verb survives because it captures something distinctive that no existing word quite conveys.

What if the same happened with Hamas?

At first glance, someone might say, “We already have a word. It’s called pillaging.”

But pillaging isn’t nearly enough to convey the particular depredation.

The Vikings pillaged. They raided villages, stole livestock, carried off treasure, and sometimes took captives. Their brutality was driven by conquest and material gain. History rightly remembers them as ruthless raiders.

Yet even “to pillage” fails to capture what the world witnessed on October 7.

If “to Hamas” became a verb, it would not simply mean to rob, raid, or kill.

It would mean to deliberately massacre civilians, rape and murder, burn families alive, and carry away even the bodies of the dead – not merely to deny burial, but to torment loved ones and use the dead as bargaining chips. It would mean celebrating those acts publicly, then, when the victims fight back, proclaiming yourself to be the true victim. It would mean embedding fighters among civilians, hiding like cowards behind women and children while forcing every effort to rescue hostages or defeat you into another propaganda opportunity.

The cruelty is not only in the violence itself. It is in the inversion.

“To Hamas” is to attack and demand sympathy for committing crimes against humanity. The hostage-taker claims oppression. The organization that began the war insists the people searching for their murdered and kidnapped relatives are the real aggressors.

“To Hamas” is to invite the world to join the crime and taunt the victims. To call “globalize the Intifada” in the streets of the Global North. To say the victims are not welcome on street signs. To taunt worshippers working into prayer halls.

Language evolves because sometimes old words are no longer enough.

If someone someday asks, “Are you going to Hamas me?” they would not be asking whether you’re going to steal from them or rape them. They would be asking something far darker.

Vikings pillaged. English already has a word for that.

“To Hamas” is to commit heinous atrocities, run for physical and emotional cover, and call for support to exploit the victims further.

Many Jews are being Hamased daily. It is time to label it clearly.