(1) A nation, any nation, must be able to defend its people from any and all aggression, especially the purposeful wanton murder, brutality, and hostage-taking by the Hamas army of terror and hate. Imagine if this happened to you.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and hate brutally attacked Israelis on 7 October 2023. The Hamas army of terror slaughtered over 1,400, wounded over 3,500, and hold hostage some 250 people (~200 held by Hamas and ~50 by other Palestinian terrorist groups; Some of these are infants.
SOURCE: American Jewish Committee
FACT: The victims included babies, young children, the elderly, as well as civilian women and men, none of whom were involved in any military operations.
(2) Any response by Israel to rescue kidnapped hostages and eliminate the Hamas terrorist army of hate in Gaza is nothing more than self-defense against a murderous aggressor on its border.
FACT: Israel has the indisputable right under international law to engage in military self-defense of its people against this barbarous savagery.
FACT: Israel must act to stop and repel the violence, completely secure its borders and people, and eradicate the Hamas army of terror and hate, which has openly targeted Israelis for “obliteration” since 1988. That’s when, as an army of terror and hate, it fused its hateful ideology with Nazi and other antisemitic ideas and published its Covenant advocating murderous Jihad against the Jewish people and extermination of the Jewish state.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and hate should be held accountable. It is an organization of hate and a perpetrator of terror: The Hamas army of terror and hate has circulated the toxic – and debunked – lies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, promoted suicide bombing and terrorism, doing everything in its power to sabotage diplomacy, nonviolent conflict resolution, and the promotion of peace in the Middle East.
FACT: As a puppet of Iran, the Hamas army of terror and hate has tried, to this day, to turn the political conflict between Israelis and Palestinians into a religious holy war between Muslims and Jews.
(3) Hamas’s unfathomably savage, barbaric, and murderous army of terror and hate victimizes Palestinians as well as Israelis, Americans – and anyone else who they decide isn’t in their favor. The Hamas army of terror and hate is a clear and present danger to the U.S., Israel and the entire world.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and hate neither accepts nor tolerates LGBTQ+ people, people of color or, indeed, anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their charter.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and date denies basic civil rights to women:
(4) The Hamas army of terror and hate murderers hide among Palestinians putting innocent people in peril.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and hate builds its tunnels and stores its weapons in hospitals, places of work, and even schools, effectively turning innocent Palestinians into human shields for the Hamas army of terror and hate murderers. And when anyone objects or dissents, the Hamas army of terror and hate inflicts brutal punishment.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and hate fires rockets, artillery, and mortars from – or in proximity to – heavily populated civilian areas, often from inside or near facilities that should be protected according to the Geneva Convention (e.g. schools, hospitals, or mosques; source), thus putting innocent people at risk. The Hamas army of terror and hate shields themselves with innocent women and children.
(5) Historically, the Hamas charter is specifically, repeatedly and violently antisemitic. The Hamas army of terror and hate promotes savagery, not safety.
FACT: Consider the Hamas charter, last updated in 2017:
Article 22: “The enemies have been scheming for a long time…and have accumulated huge and influential material wealth. With their money, they took control of the world media…With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the globe…They stood behind the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution and most of the revolutions we hear about…With their money, they formed secret organizations – such as the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs and the Lions – which are spreading around the world in order to destroy societies and carry out Zionist interests…They stood behind World War I …and formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains…There is no war going on anywhere without them having their finger in it.’”
FACT: Articles 7 and 27 of the charter have similar, unmistakable antisemitic statements.
(6) Opposing the Hamas army of terror and hate does not make one anti-Palestinian.
FACT: (West Bank) Palestine Authority President Abbas was recently quoted saying that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.
FACT: The Egyptian news platform Al-Masry al-Yawm, for example, noted Gazans’ “testimonials of arbitrary arrests, extortion, and blackmail by Hamas members, as well as systemic violation of basic personal freedoms” as well as “the enrichment of Hamas members and their families even as most Gazans are impoverished.” (source)
FACT: In 2019, a thousand or more Gazans attempted to peacefully protest aspects of Hamas rule.
FACT: Gazans expressed a preference for Palestinian Authority administration and security officials over Hamas – the majority of Gazans (70%) supported a proposal of the PA sending “officials and security officers to Gaza to take over the administration there, with Hamas giving up separate armed units,” including 47% who strongly agreed. (Washington Institute polling)
SOURCE: WION NEWS – at 2:23
(7) This is not about Israelis and the Palestinian people. Historically, Israel has sought peace with its Palestinian neighbors, co-workers, and friends.
FACT: At least five separate times (1993, 1995, 2000, 2007, 2009-10) since the creation of Israel in 1948, the Israelis offered Palestinians nearly everything they wanted; each time, the Palestinian authorities refused (Source: American Jewish Committee);
FACT: This includes in 2000, when negotiations brokered by President Clinton, Israel basically offered Arafat 99% of what he asked for and Arafat walked away.
A two-state solution isn’t possible when one side states explicitly that its goals are the destruction of Israel and the murder of its inhabitants. And then that side launches terror attacks.
(8) Intention matters: the purposeful and targeted murder of civilians is NEVER justified.
FACT: The Hamas army of terror and hate consciously massacred or seized as hostage innocent concertgoers at the Nova Festival for Peace. They even slaughtered or seized as hostages helpless babies, children, women, the elderly and innocent women and men. And they never apologized, nor did their leadership hold those murderers accountable for these savage acts of terror and hate and crimes against humanity.
FACT: While innocents may suffer in any war, Israel works hard to avoid such impacts; and Israel’s response to the murderous Hamas army of terror and hate violence includes restraint and safe corridors to reduce innocent casualties. Israelis care about human life.
FACT: In the unfortunate incidents where Israeli military action resulted in innocent civilian loss of life or injury, it was for the most part accidental, inadvertent and unintended. And they offered their regrets.
FACT: In past attacks on Gaza City and other Gaza locations, the Israeli military alerted civilians in advance of attacks, so they could move to safety. No other country has ever done that in any past conflict.
(9) No moral equivalence ever applies. Israel bombs a building in Gaza City that is known to house terrorists, and some innocent people may die: a tragedy. The Hamas army of terror invades a music festival for peace where it massacres and seizes as hostages innocent people: For the Hamas army of terror and hate, brutality is business as usual.
FACT: The death toll from the October 7 massive, murderous, terrorist Hamas army of terror and hate attacks includes so many innocents, like those attending a concert for peace. The innocent concertgoers were not all Israelis. They came from countries around the globe. The Hamas army of terror and hate did not care. Imagine if this were you.
FACT: The murderous Hamas army of terror and hate victimized Christians, Buddhists, and people of other religions and faiths in addition to Jews. The murderous Hamas army of terror and hate seized hostages and killed Americans, Nepalese, British, Cambodian, French, Germans, Thais, and people from other countries. The Hamas army of terror and hate does not care.
(10) Israel is not and has never been a colonial power.
FACT: A colonial power subjugates another country to which they have no claim and exploits it from their home base country to benefit their home base country: e.g., UK, France in Africa, and India. What is the home base of Israel? They sought a home for themselves for which they have a 3,000-year-old claim. They did not invade from a home country to benefit that country. They have no home country to go back to. Israel is their home.
FACT: Nations in Africa and South America recognize and support Israel’s right to exist. Most of the Israeli population returned from non-western countries and it is more diverse than any of its neighbors.