Who are the pro-Hamas protesters on college campuses and in the streets of California and America? It appears that most are relatively young, misinformed Marxists, while some are professional agitators and tag-alongs. Although passionate free speech is an American tradition, the virulent protestors who instigate the subversion of ordered liberty and promote violence are crossing a red line.
Some protestors chant insidious mindless slogans such as “Gas the Jews” or “Defeat Zionist Terrorists.” This is eerily similar to the mindset of the Nazi Third Reich from 1933–45. Why are Jewish Americans feeling unsafe in a nation that is supposed to support the pillars of liberty and time-tested laws?
One wonders how the demonstrators would react if they were conditioned to remain alert every day due to the unpredictable nature of incoming terror assaults from three directions. Moreover, they seem clueless that the dissent rights they take for granted would be met with persecution and torture in the autocratic states they fervidly admire.
Do these marchers actually know why they are protesting, or are they assembling because influencers on social media gave them instructions? Is their anti-Semitic venom against Israel and the Jews spur of the moment, or has it been building due to university indoctrination? Glancing over their banners and handheld posters, it appears that these hordes are driven by emotion rather than factual reasoning, because they merely repeat the propaganda of Iran’s regional surrogates.
For example, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” are code words for the annihilation of the Israeli state. They seem to be ignorant of the fact that Israel’s statehood has been recognized since 1948, and it is here to stay. Gaza could be free when Hamas is neutralized and no longer is a threat to Israel, or to the Palestinians.
Some Orwellian signs read, “End the Colonization, End the Occupation,” “Resistance Against Occupation is a Human Right,” or “Halt all Aid to the Apartheid State.” These phrases are merely gaslighting, because Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew all Israeli soldiers from Gaza in 2005. Fatah ruled Gaza for a brief period until Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority back to the West Bank in 2007.
Other placards read, “Ceasefire Now for the Sake of Palestine,” or “Let Gaza Live.” If the domestic and international protestors genuinely desired peace, they would urge Hamas to stop initiating wars. One idiotic sign read, “Genocide Has No Two Sides.” It refers to Israel, yet Hamas is committing genocide, while Israelis and Palestinians are at the receiving end of this medieval terror. Some chant for the release of Hamas “political prisoners.” How in good conscience can Israeli leaders release Hamas terrorists from Israeli prisons?
Similar to Antifa and Black Lives Matter, the current protestors have resorted to defacing iconic symbols and bullying pro-Israel demonstrators by swarming one individual or small groups of Israel supporters.
These small groups are harassed through the heckler’s veto, while some resort to physical intimidation. Shouldn’t these pro-Hamas rabble-rousers oppose the destabilizing effects of Iranian proxies in the Mideast? Indeed, they likely would be the first to go ballistic and call for security if they were victimized by crime or terror.
Many of the domestic and global protestors chant, “Allahu Akbar,” which means God is great. If God is great, shouldn’t they be vigorously denouncing Hamas terror instead of celebrating the mass slaughter of Israelis?
Shouldn’t they be railing against Hamas for hoarding humanitarian relief supplies, holding scores of innocent hostages, and using Palestinians as human shields as they launch rockets against Israeli civilians? Moreover, about ten percent of Hamas rockets misfire and rain down death and destruction as they fall back into the Gaza Strip. To a degree, many Palestinians are complicit in their own suffering, because they either support or tolerate Hamas.
Unlike the protestors in America, the pro-Hamas and Hezbollah crowds in Muslim dominant states are allowed freedom of assembly and speech when it is directed at the West and not at internal regime policies. These protestors can blow off steam as a relief valve. It provides a distraction away from the dysfunction that plagues a number of Arab states.
Authoritarian leaders even encourage these protests against the Great Satan (United States) and the Little Satan (Israel). However, many Arab leaders secretly detest Islamist terror groups, because they threaten state power, and far more terror strikes are unleashed against their own regimes than there are attacks aimed at the West. Making deals with the devil only delays the progress so desperately needed in Arab states.
However, there might be some silver linings in this current conflict. American Christians and Jews are forming bonds and finding greater areas of common ground with Israeli Jews. Major donors are also engaging in a domestic movement to defund several American propaganda factories (universities). Moreover, if Israel defeats Hamas, the Palestinians could find their voice and demand better governance.
Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad would be put on notice, along with their financiers in Tehran. Israel, or any nation, should not have to endure daily threats to their existence. For its future survival, Israel has no choice but to break the cycle of terror that is sponsored by Iran’s addiction to permanent revolution.
It is also possible that additional Arab states would be grateful for the heavy lifting carried out by Israel and work toward improved relations. Indeed, key regional stakeholders are already discussing what a de-militarized post-Hamas Gaza might look like and how it would be governed.
