As Israel attempts to free hostages in Gaza taken captive by the political-terrorist group Hamas, people are debating how innocent Gazans are relative to the group that administers the territory. Those defending Palestinian Arabs argue that Hamas seized the territory in 2007 from the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority so cannot be held responsible. They dismiss that Palestinians voted Hamas to 58% of parliament since that election happened in 2006 and doesn’t represent current attitudes.
Arguable the best way to truly consider Gazans attitudes towards Israel, both before and after Hamas took over Gaza, is to look at poll data.
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) has been conducting polls of West Bank and Gazan Arabs since the turn of the century. There are many questions that change based on the reality of the moment and some which have remained consistent.
Supporting terrorism has been a constant through the polls. For over twenty years, it has been a question that is asked in that format: “Concerning armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside Israel, I….” with the choice of either Strongly support/ Support/ Oppose / Strongly oppose / NA. Here are the results, with links to the original polls.
As seen in the table above, two-thirds of Gazans support terrorism, specifically, killing Jewish civilians inside of Israel like the gruesome massacre of October 7, 2023. That suggests 1.5 million Gazans (67% of 2.25 million Gazans) were supporters of the Hamas barbarism.
This was not a momentary blip in time. Over the past 23 years, there was a single moment – when Israel left Gaza – that only 43.6% of Gazans supported murdering Israeli Jews. At any other time, a majority between 53% and 76% approved terrorism.
The spike in support for terrorism in June 2007 coincided with confidence that Hamas’s approach of attacks yields better results than Fatah’s approach of negotiations, both “in stopping Israeli settlement activities” which portrayed “Hamas as successful in breaking the [Israeli] siege and as a victim of Israeli attacks,” according to PCPSR.
The support is not theoretical.
In March 2011, when two Palestinian Arabs went into the town of Itamar and slaughtered two parents and three children in their beds, 51% of Gazans supported the grisly killing when asked specifically about the attack (question 67).
The people of Gaza are not “innocent” and victims of Hamas, and the media constant refrain of saying as much is a deliberate lie meant to narrow the scope of the conflict.
October 7, 2023 will be marked in Israeli and Jewish history as one of the most horrible days in modern times. Not since the Holocaust had such Jews experienced such savagery.
It would be hard to understand that from looking at pictures in The New York Times coverage of the Hamas massacre.
The attack was featured on the front page as well as in two other pages with many color pictures.
Front page of NY Times on October 8, 2023
Four pictures were featured under the headline “Palestinian Militants Stage Attack On Israel.” The four pictures included two of Palestinians attacking Israel, one with rockets and another with a bulldozer ripping down a fence. The other had an Israeli soldier walking past “bodies of Israelis killed by militants in the city of Sderot,” which gave no clarity as to whether the Israelis were soldiers, like the one standing in the picture, or civilians. The last picture had people in Gaza carrying “the body of a slain militant.”
From the pictures on the cover, one would imagine a battle between armed opponents, Palestinian militants and the Israeli army.
Page 12 would build on this theme.
Page 12 of The New York Times on October 8, 2023
Three small pictures on the top of the page show missile strikes and debris. One shows an Israeli town being hit and two pictures show Gaza being struck. The large picture in the center of the page has an Israeli woman, shown from the back, running for cover from a “rocket siren”, and the bottom picture has young Palestinian Arabs looking up at the sky from the “sound of airstrikes.”
The picture coverage started to move to civilians, with the war being a battle from the skies.
Page 13 of NY Times on October 8, 2023
The final page of coverage continued with the theme of rocket fire, with a large picture on top showing a strike in Gaza, then a small picture of a house in Israel with damage. Below the fold was an Israeli family running from “a site that was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.”
This pictorial narrative is utterly and completely disgraceful.
Well over 1,000 Palestinian terrorists stormed into Israel and slaughtered over 1,000 people. They set fire to homes and burned people alive. They shot up people in the streets and in their beds. The raped women and dragged them through the streets. The Arabs chopped the heads off babies and soldiers.
It was a vicious slaughter committed by people in close proximity, mostly of armed Hamas terrorists against civilians.
All unprovoked, in an attack on the Jewish Sabbath and holiday of Simchat Torah.
The New York Times attempt at showing a similar number of pictures of damage from rockets in both Israel and Gaza right after the massacre distorts the entire narrative of the grotesque slaughter of Jewish families and young people, to warrant being called antisemitic and libelous.
The current estimated population of Gaza is about 2.25 million people, all Arab. Of that number, 1.8 million (80%) are wards of UNRWA, with a fraction being over 75 years old whom can claim to be refugees or internally displaced people, if one considers that Palestine included Gaza in 1948.
Approximately 25,000 belong to Hamas and thousands of others belong to other terrorist groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The newest anti-Zionist terrorist groups to emerge over the past two years have been in Area A of the West Bank, controlled by the Palestinian Authority. They include Lion’s Den, Jenin Brigades and Tulkarm Brigades. They have been getting most of the attention of the Israeli Defense Forces as intelligence showed that they were planning and committing attacks. It’s possible that they were diversions to draw the IDF attention away from the terrorist groups in Gaza as they prepared for a major invasion.
As the IDF prepares to pursue ‘maximum justice‘ for Hamas for the heinous October 7 slaughter of civilians going about their everyday lives, the Israeli government needs to assess how far to pursue such ends to make sure that no such attack emerges from Gaza again.
To take out every member of Hamas would mean killing 25,000 terrorists, a huge figure. But they are only part of the area’s terrorist infrastructure. There may be as many as 10,000 other terrorists belonging to the other groups.
While Hamas gets funding and support from Iran, Turkey, Qatar and Sudan, it also has broad local support. An estimated 1.5 million people (67% of the population) in Gaza support the group and its goal of killing Jews inside of Israel according to recent Palestinian polls.
While it is abhorrent to realize that so many Palestinian Arabs actively support terrorism, can the Israeli government really consider wiping out 1.5 million people who want to kill Jews next door? If it would entertain such idea, the approach of sending in ground troops into Gaza where many soldiers will be killed would be insane. It would be easier to pound the region into submission from the air.
Israel makes efforts to minimize the loss of life of Arab civilians during such conflicts based on inside intelligence about where terrorists are located. However, based on the colossal failure of Israeli intelligence to foresee the October 7 massacre, it is doubtful that Israel’s operatives can be relied upon to pinpoint the terrorists.
Which leaves the question of what constitutes “crushing” Hamas so that the group essentially ceases to operate? All 25,000 terrorists in the group? 35,000 including the other terrorist groups? 1.5 million people?
It is likely that the Israeli government is trying to figure this out while it begins to hit the known Hamas locations in the war’s early days. Unfortunately, many Arab civilians have been killed – some who are part of the 1.5 million terrorist supporters and some of the 750,000 civil Arabs who are willing to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors.
One approach to minimize a horrible death toll would be for Hamas leadership and the 1,500 October 7 butchers to hand themselves over to Israel to spare fellow Arabs. I’m sure if they would agree, future bloodshed could be averted.
Assuming that Hamas remains consistent that they are in a war of liberation and will continue to fight and try to kill as many Israeli as possible, it is likely that the entire Hamas leadership and at least half of the group will need to be eliminated to end the jihadi dream of destroying Israel, roughly 12,500 people. When considering the number of civilians that will likely be killed alongside the terrorists, the total Arab dead may be 20,000 before the Palestinians relent and surrender to calm.
Before the “fog of war” sets in during battle, commanders set out their mission with some particular metrics. Hamas’s goal was to slaughter as many Jews as possible as deep into Israel as they could reach. They succeeded beyond their dreams.
Now is the time for Israel to map out its goals, before the cacophony of resolutions derail it from its aims.
It is difficult for people to comprehend the trauma felt in Israel. It goes beyond numbers as reviewed here.
The 9/11 Comparison
The Murdered. On September 11, 2001, 2,977 American civilians were killed by radical jihadists affiliated with the al Qaeda terrorist group. By comparison, on October 7, 2023, an estimated 900 people were killed in Israel. Relative to each population, roughly 1 out of 100,000 Americans were killed on 9/11 while 9.6 out of 100,000 Israelis were killed.
After 9/11, there were basically no further casualties on American soil. In Israel, several hundred additional people have been killed, with each day almost the equivalent of a 9/11. The total scale of the massacre of Israelis easily surpasses 10 times 9/11.
The Killers. There were 19 hijackers of four airplanes on 9/11, a relatively small number. The massacre in Israel involved an estimated 1,500 Palestinian Arab terrorists, about 80 times as many bent on killing civilians.
The Methodology. The 9/11 operation was clinically cold: the hijackers crashed planes into buildings. In the 10/7 atrocities, 1,500 Hamas terrorists went town-to-town hacking and shooting families to death. They raped women and dragged them through the street by their hair. They burned people alive. The butchers decapitated dozens of babies. For hours, they scoured the horizon for Jews to slaughter by hand.
Broad Local Support. The al Qaeda terrorists were a band of radical jihadists in 2001. They weren’t elected to any office. Not so for Hamas, which was elected to 58% of Palestinian parliament in 2006 with the most antisemitic charter ever written. They continue to hold that majority of the government, and according to polls, Hamas would win presidential elections if held now.
Location. The horde of al Qaeda terrorists were on the other side of the globe for the U.S.A. Hamas is literally next door to Israel – with the majority in Gaza but many in the West Bank. These Palestinian terrorists could carry out attacks against Israel from their backyards whenever they want.
The Aftermath. All 19 hijackers on 9/11 were killed in the suicide operation. They took no prisoners. However, well over 1,000 of the Arab terrorists survived and returned to their safe haven in Gaza, taking roughly 150 hostages with them. The Palestinian jihadists continue to fight on, now surrounded by 25,000 fellow jihadi terrorists, ensconced among civilians.
International Support. Al Qaeda became public enemy number one around the world after 9/11. America enlisted many countries in a fight against global terror which focused on America’s enemy. Yet now, in the immediate aftermath of the sickening slaughter in Israel, people and countries call the terrorism “resistance” and the massacre a cause for “celebration.” Israel will have a very difficult time gathering and maintaining global support to finally terminate this noxious evil.
Existential Threat. At the end of the day, while the 9/11 attacks were evil, the United States did not suddenly become really vulnerable; it was not going to disappear. But Israel is surrounded by many parties who refuse to accept its existence since its founding. The Islamic Republic of Iran, now at the cusp of nuclear weapons capability, has threatened to wipe it off the map and is actively sponsoring terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel’s borders. Israel is highly vulnerable.
As people watch the news or consider the “pro-Palestinian resistance” protests taking place in cities and campuses, it is critical that they understand the current fear of Jews and Israelis: the collective post traumatic stress disorder which echoes the wails of parents and grandparents from the Holocaust and pogroms, has emerged again as the Satan of Gaza.
Even the most persecuted people in the world can be shocked by the barbarity of antisemites, and by the people who abandon them in their time of need.
The Jewish State and Jews around the world have woken up to the fact that they are in a war, hated for who they are, where they are and what they do. It took a monstrous massacre for the reality to awaken people to the situation, and having reached this point, it’s important to know more about the haters and their intents.
The article “The Center of Intersectionality looks a lot like Adolf Hitler” listed many vile antisemites including: the Democratic Socialists of America, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar, New York City Council member Shahana Hanif, Linda Sarsour and Zahra Billoo of the Council of American-Islamic Relations. There are many others like the Mapping Project in Massachusetts which is part of the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement, which wants to make it easier to target Jewish organizations throughout the state, and so listed them and their addresses. Organizations included those that promote “normalization” and peace, as well as synagogues.
After the brutal massacre of hundreds of Israelis on October 7, 2023, one would imagine that even everyday antisemites would distance themselves from the carnage and attempt to not appear as Nazis bent on Jewish blood.
Alas, the bilestorm is upon us, and those celebrating the murder of Jews are out in the open. Jews should take note and be prepared in both the near- and intermediate-term.
Immediately after the atrocities became public, The United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) threw its full weight behind Palestinian Arabs. It published a statement about the “recent unprovoked and continuous attacks by Israel on Palestinian towns, cities, and refugee camps have resulted in tragic loss of Palestinian lives. We condemn Israel’s targeted and indiscriminate killing of civilians, including innocent children, women, and the elderly, and we denounce the inhumane siege imposed on the nearly 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, a clear violation of international law and an implied declaration of open war on the Palestinians which oblige them to be in constant self-defense.” Members of USCMO are:
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). They have a convention in Chicago November 23-5
Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) which vigorously backed Billoo’s antisemitic rant that all Jews are enemies of Muslims
Al-Awda – The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition
Within Our Lifetime
Samidoun
CUNY School of Law Students for Justice in Palestine
Decolonize This Place
Existence Is Resistance
CUNY for Palestine
Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America
Yalies for Palestine
Semilla Collective
Greater New Haven Peace Council
Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Witness Palestine Rochester
ANSWER Coalition
Bard College SJP
Students for Justice in Palestine – Butler University
Jewish Voice for Peace – Indiana
Party for Socialism and Liberation – Indianapolis
SJP @ UC Davis
AMP Chicago
… and many more
The Democratic Socialists of America and Students for Justice In Palestine were in full force around the country backing the wanton killing of Jews. AMCHA Initiative has long tracked how the presence of SJP on college campuses results in antisemitic incidents jumping by five times.
The head of NYU Law Student Bar Association sent out a broad email about “my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinian in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination.” Ryna went on to say Israel’s blockade of the terrorist enclave “made resistance necessary. I will not condemn resistance.” That such a person can be a lawyer and approve of the wanton slaughter of non-combatants en masse is terrifying. This person, Ryna Workman, should be rejected from all employment.
Ryna has company. Harvard University posted a letter signed by 30 groups supporting Hamas’s butchery. After billionaire investor Bill Ackman, an alum of the school, asked that the school release the names of the individuals behind the letter, someone posted their names.
Columbia University’s Student for Justice in Palestine produced a vile antisemite named Naye Idriss who gave a speech in Times Square in New York City the day after the massacre of Jews and called for more massacres to a reception of cheers.
Idriss was likely fueled in her hatred of the Jewish State from Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi who said that Israel’s treatment of Palestinian Arabs “will necessarily, inevitably bring a violent reaction (51:40). Another professor, Joseph Massad mocked how Jews fled on foot from their “colonies” (since he views all of Israel as an illegal colony) in the massacre. He didn’t mention a single slaughtered Jew but went on to lament Arab dead, which he hoped would be the “start of the Palestinian War of Liberation.”
Of course, this generation’s Nazis is the popular Palestinian political-terrorist group Hamas which carried out the slaughter. Its 1988 foundational charter is replete with antisemitism and the call to kill Jews and destroy the Jewish State, seemingly to the joy of Palestinian Arabs who voted the party into 58% of parliament in 2006. Its leadership calls on Muslims around the world to engage in a global intifada to support their annihilation of Israel.
Turkey, another Islamic, non-Arab country provides Hamas political support
Qatar hosts Hamas’s leadership and funnels money to it
Eugene Puryear, part of the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized rallies for Hamas and said “Palestinians are right to stand up against occupation.”
ADL has tracked many of the recent pro-Hamas protests which backed the massacre and called for the destruction of Israel. Chants included “Zionism has got to go!” and “Zionism is genocide!”, “You need to stop being apologetic about Palestinian liberation“, “Resistance is not terrorism.” Regarding the massacre of Jews, speakers said “make no mistake, we are in celebration.”
While Jews grieve and pray, they seemingly have not internalized that the pro-Palestinian community does not view this as a battle like 2008, 2012, 2014 or 2021. They don’t think it’s like the Second Intifada in which they rejected two states for two people.
Your enemies believe the war to end the Jewish State has begun. It’s 1948 Redux.
And they have called for the world to join them in their efforts to end Israel and prosecute its supporters in a “global intifada.”
Israel’s fight in Gaza is not about the terrorist group Hamas; it is about terminating Hamas’s jihadi dream of destroying the Jewish State.
Almost every Palestinian Arab is already an antisemite and this war will not make them hate Jews any less. However, it must teach them that Israel is here to stay.
The reports coming out of Israel are horrifying. The actions of Hamas in places like Kfar Aza are horrific as entire families were gunned down in their homes and babies decapitated.
The United Nations Secretary General issued a statement that “The attacks have so far claimed numerous Israeli civilian lives and injured many hundreds. The Secretary-General is appalled by reports that civilians have been attacked and abducted from their own homes.
“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned for the civilian population and urges maximum restraint. Civilians must be respected and protected in accordance with international humanitarian law at all times.”
The phrase “maximum restraint” is only used when terrorists kill Israelis and the UNSG gets worried that Israel will pursue the Palestinian Arab assailants. When terrorists kill people in other places including Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan or Nigeria, the UN Security Council declares “the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.”
In light of the gross deformity of Palestinian culture and barbaric attacks by the popular political-terrorist party Hamas, it is time for Israel to pursue ‘maximum justice,’ to finish ALL “perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism”, including the Islamic Republic of Iran if they were indeed behind the attacks.
Mohammed Deif, supreme military commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam BrigadesYahya al-Sinwar, current leader of Hamas in GazaIsmail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas based in Qatar
There are estimated to be 30,000 people affiliated with Hamas, not including those who aid and abet the group. Israel will require significant time to bring these murderers to maximum justice and rout them from the region. We should support Israel in destroying the terrorist entity and hopefully bringing calm to the region.
People around the globe are looking for ways to help Israel during this terrible time. Below are a few ways: Donate, Lobby, Support students, Rally, Pray. Stay informed.
Donation Dos and Don’ts
There are many organizations based in Israel which can be helpful and, unfortunately, many well-intentioned people who pour time and resources into bad ideas and scams.
DON’T give money or buy military supplies in the diaspora. It sounds illogical but there are several reasons.
The Israeli government has supplies which are consistent with how soldiers are trained and how it maintains equipment. It cannot accept and manage an odd helmet here and two night vision goggles there. It mucks up the military order.
It’s also illegal in most countries to send military supplies abroad.
DO send items. Socks, underwear, canned goods and the like are welcome and can be distributed to displaced people, soldiers, volunteers and others.
DONATIONS are welcome – to known entities. Beware of organizations which popped up overnight which might sound good but have no proven ability to direct 100% of the donations to people in need. Some good organizations in Israel include:
Friend of Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) to help soldiers
There are also organizations supporting college students who will be facing a barrage of anti-Israel attacks. Donate to organizations which help these students combat the amplified antisemitism and anti-Zionism that is growing every day:
StandWithUs helps students with training and materials
There are occasional one-offs who can help, such as The Jerusalem Great Synagogue which has set up The Emergency Fund supervised by Malcolm Hoenlein. The fund originally had roots in assisting lone soldiers in Israel and is now serving as a base to dynamically change the destination of contributions based on current need which Malcolm identifies and then gets approved by the donor before distribution.
The American Friends of The Jerusalem Great Synagogue is a United States tax exempt 501c3 charitable organization. Federal ID number: 23-7013128 Acct# – 096073694365 Acct Name: AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE JERUSALEM GREAT SYNAGOGUE INC Acct Address: 3145 Coney island Avenue Brooklyn NY 11235 Bank Name: JPMorgan Chase Bank NA SWIFT Code: CHASUS33 Routing#: 021000021 Address: 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Phone Number: (866) 865-1388
The Importance of Lobbying
Israel is going to need persistent support, especially as the war continues and the number of Arab casualties rises. Politicians care about and track the calls and emails that come to their offices. Contact your local representatives, even if only sharing one or two sentences. Feel free to use any article on the FirstOneThrough site with politicians to amplify your voice.
Universities have become hotbeds of radicalism among socialists and Islamic extremists. The war will likely make campuses extremely hostile for anyone clearly Jewish, such as Orthodox men wearing kippahs.
In addition to donating to organizations like StandWithUs, contact your alma mater and let them know that antisemitism and support for Hamas are completely unacceptable. Contact fellow alumni who share your passion for the subject to create bulk power initiatives to confront any biases that might arise on campus.
Rally
There are many rallies taking place to support Israel. Go to your local synagogue or community center website or national organizations such as UJA putting one together October 10 at 5pm at the United Nations. People need to feel the bonds of community and discuss ways of supporting each other and the Jewish State at this difficult time.
Pray
Some people like to go to synagogue and pray. Some recite chapters of Tehillim / Psalms to pray for the wounded, hostages and families directly impacted. Others join global WhatsApp groups to show a global unity reciting prayers and Psalms together.
The prayers should help all of our positive actions have the desired effect of returning the hostages safely, healing the sick and injured, and deliver appropriate punishment to the evil perpetrators who inflicted such barbarity.
Stay Informed
There are many websites like Arutz Sheva and Jerusalem Post which will have the latest news, many of which will likely get targeted by Jihadists. The Palestinian Authority posts its propaganda at Wafa. For analysis which incorporates the various news feeds, historical context, actions of the United Nations and more, subscribe to the FirstOneThrough blog below.
In response to the heinous massacre of Israelis and kidnapping of an estimated 150 Jews, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege [of Gaza]. We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly.” The siege is anticipated to include halting the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel as Israeli soldiers scour the region in search of innocent hostages.
For its part, Hamas announced that it would “respond to any targeting of our people who are safe in their homes without warning, with the execution of our civilian hostages, and we will broadcast it with audio and video.”
The United Nations Secretary General immediately took sides on the competing threats – one by Israel to halt supplies while it sought to redeem its captives, and the other by Hamas which threatened to execute the Jewish civilians and broadcast it to the world.
He sided with Palestinian terrorists. His statement read:
“I am deeply distressed by today’s announcement that Israel will initiate a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, nothing allowed in — no electricity, food or fuel. The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities; now it will only deteriorate exponentially.
“Medical equipment, food, fuel and other humanitarian supplies are desperately needed, along with access for humanitarian personnel. Relief and entry of essential supplies into Gaza must be facilitated and the UN will continue efforts to provide aid to respond to these needs.
“I urge all sides and the relevant parties to allow United Nations access to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians trapped and helpless in the Gaza Strip. I appeal to the international community to mobilize immediate humanitarian support for this effort.”
That is not a misprint.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutteres said that the UN would rally the world to ignore Israel’s search and rescue mission for Jewish hostages marked for public execution in Palestinian territory, and instead focus on Palestinian civilians who were “trapped and helpless” ruled by Arabs which they support and elected.
Bound Israeli female hostage pulled into Hamas jeep for Gaza
Blinded by its long-standing desire to help Palestinian Arabs, the United Nations has lost all legitimacy, and now participates in crimes against humanity and the murder of Israeli Jews.
The heinous massacre of Israeli Jews by the Palestinian political-terrorist group HAMAS meets every definition of a crime against humanity. The whitewashing of the evil source should therefore be considered a grave offense to be fought aggressively.
He flagged the “terrorist organization, Hamas” and called out terrorists a total of nine times and Hamas five times. He made it clear that the United States views the organization and its actions as evil with such declarations.
However, Biden misdirected the vitriol by constricting his language away from clearly labeling the group as the highly popular political party of Palestinian Arabs.
Worse, he made Palestinian Arabs appear as peace partners to stop the violence, saying “I’ve also directed my team to remain in constant contact with leaders throughout the region, including Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, the UAE, as well as with our European partners and the Palestinian Authority.“
CNN has done much the same calling out “Hamas fighters” and “Hamas militants” but disassociating the terrorist group with Palestinian Arabs. Instead, it limits the use of “Palestinians” to describe death tolls of local Arabs.
The New York Times echoes much of the narrative that Hamas is an “Iran-backed militant group that controls the Gaza Strip,” stripping the group of its Palestinian roots and nature and dressing it as a foreign implant.
This is toxic misinformation.
Hamas is the majority political party in Palestinian parliament, with 74 of the 132 seats, or 58 per cent of the total. According to a September 2023 Palestinian poll, “If new presidential elections were held today and only two candidates, Mahmoud Abbas [of Fatah] and Ismail Haniyeh [of Hamas], the voter turnout would be only 42%, and among those who would participate, Abbas would receive 37% of the vote and Haniyeh 58%,” showing the continued strength and popularity of the political-terrorist group.
The majority of Palestinians voted Hamas into power with the most antisemitic charter ever written, and a majority of Palestinian Arabs support the killing of Jews inside of Israel according to polls, just as Hamas has carried out.
Palestinian Arabs are engaged in a war to eradicate Jews from their homeland, and launched an attack on a Jewish religious holiday with a grisly crime against humanity. Efforts to recharacterize the war as stemming from a foreign-backed militant groups grossly paints Palestinian Arabs as twice-over victims – of Iranian-backed Hamas and of Israel – instead of squarely placing the root of evil on the local Arabs themselves.
The grisly crimes against humanity being waged by Palestinian Arabs against Jews must be fought militarily, financially, morally and with clarity. Hamas is the popular Palestinian political-terrorist party, not a foreign implant. Palestinian Arabs are responsible for the atrocities.
Write White House: “The grisly crimes against humanity being waged by Palestinian Arabs against Jews must be fought militarily, financially, morally and with clarity. Hamas is the popular Palestinian political-terrorist party, not a foreign implant.”
Before Israel declared itself an independent state in May 1948, “Palestinians” were a mix of Jews, Christians and Muslims. At the end of the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli War, the region was divided and renamed. There were Israeli Jews, Christians and Muslims, but no longer any “Palestinians,” as the non-Israeli territory fell under Egypt (Gaza) and The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan (the west bank of the Jordan River). The term “Palestinians” for the United Nations came to only mean Arab refugees from Israel, who were then living either in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and Israel (the term Palestinian refugees inside of Israel was phased out by the global body in 1952).
Jordanians and subsequently, Former Jordanians
After Transjordan illegally seized control of the west bank of the Jordan River in 1949, it renamed itself as “Jordan”, now controlling both banks of the river. Jordan annexed that west bank land in 1950 and subsequently gave all the people who lived there – as long as they weren’t Jewish – Jordanian citizenship in 1954. These new Jordanians moved freely between both sides of the Jordan River and many opted to NOT take on the label of “refugee.” To wit, in June 1950, there were 506,200 refugees in Jordan, and that number shrank to 465,741 in June 1951, an 8% drop.
The new Jordanians were part of the force that attacked Israel in June 1967 and lost the eastern part of Jerusalem and all of the land Jordan illegally annexed in 1950. Jordan ultimately withdrew Jordanian citizenship from these West Bank Arabs in July 1988, when the Palestinians declared their independence, in a move not recognized by much of the world.
The former Jordanians are ruled by the Palestinian Authority, under the unpopular leadership of Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. He has championed for more countries to recognize the Palestinian State and has secured the Muslim countries as well as several in Latin America. As the United States and western Europe have refused to recognize the country until it negotiates borders and other matters with Israel, they are viewed as stateless.
Meanwhile, Israel lifted the Jordanian ban on Jews living in the region. Israeli Jews now live throughout the area known as Area C, while they are still banned in Areas A and B under Palestinian Authority-control.
Hamas and Fatah have not been able to reconcile their differences over the past many years. Gaza remains an Islamic terrorist territory, and Areas A and B of the West Bank (handed by Israel to the Palestinian Authority) remain under control of the PA, for now. Should elections ever be held, it is likely that Hamas will win control of the PA and thereby take control of the former Jordanians in those areas.
One hundred years ago, “Palestinians” included a mix of Jews, Muslims and Christians living together. Today it means nothing. As Hamas controlled-Gaza and Fatah-controlled Areas A and B are completely distinct and there is no country of Palestine, the people should similarly be referred to differently, as Gazans and former Jordanians.
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