Are They Accountable for the Cruelness?

Are They Accountable for the Cruelness?

The display of unimaginable cruelty from Hamas, supported by the vast majority of Arabs calling themselves “Palestinians,” is for us in the West almost incomprehensible. We see the horrors, but because they do not align with our values or worldview, many deny them. Instead of acknowledging the documented barbarism, beheadings, rapes, kidnappings, and massacres, Western voices too often claim that Israelis are exaggerating, fabricating, or worse: that they are themselves the cruel ones.

For Israelis, who live amid this culture, the reality is clear. They know the truth firsthand, because they have been surrounded by it for generations. For the West, shielded by a culture of openness, empathy, and compromise, it is easier to believe propaganda than to accept the depth of hate and brutality that fuels groups like Hamas. Here lies one of the greatest weapons used against Israel: the Pallywood propaganda machine.

The Media War: Pallywood in Action

For decades, Palestinian factions have understood that while they cannot outgun Israel’s military, they can outplay the West emotionally. In carefully staged videos, children are posed next to rubble, funerals are dramatized, and stories are spun of atrocities that never happened. Western audiences, who are genuine in their shock at suffering, accept these narratives immediately.

One famous example: in 2000, the case of Muhammad al-Durrah, a boy allegedly killed by Israeli fire, was broadcast worldwide. Later investigations showed the footage had been manipulated and the claims were never verified, yet the damage was done. Similarly, in 2023, when an explosion occurred at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, Hamas immediately accused Israel. Western media repeated the claim without evidence. Hours later, independent analysis, including U.S. and European intelligence, confirmed it was a misfired Palestinian rocket. But the false accusation had already ignited protests across the globe.

Israel, by contrast, documents everything carefully, with evidence and forensic reports. Yet when Israel presents proof, it is dismissed as “public relations.” Meanwhile, a shaky cell phone clip, no matter how impossible, is enough to flood the headlines.

This is not an accident. It is strategy. Hamas leaders themselves have admitted, time and again, that they use civilians as human shields because “dead civilians are good for us.” Every civilian death, even if caused directly by Hamas, is turned into an accusation against Israel. And the West, in its naivety, consumes it as truth.

Understanding the Cultural Clash

To understand this fully, we must acknowledge a deep cultural difference that shapes this conflict.

1. Honor and Strength

In Arab and Muslim societies, honor (“’ird” or “sharaf”) is central. Strength, self-control, and resilience are prized, while weakness or vulnerability is despised. Men are expected to be strong providers and to show dominance.

2. Emotions and Communication

Westerners tend to resolve conflicts by “talking things through.” In many Arab societies, emotions are seen as weakness. Public displays of sadness, apology, or compromise can be considered dishonorable. Authority and strength dominate decision-making.

3. Conflict and Discussion

Negotiation in the Western sense; compromise, middle ground, consensus, often does not hold the same value. Instead, the preference is for winning, for asserting dominance, for proving strength. Silence or avoidance may be used, but compromise is seen as weakness.

4. Family and Collectivism

Identity is collective, tied to family and tribe, not individualism. This means decisions are made based on reputation and honor, not on independent conscience. The Palestinian cause is wrapped up in this collective honor, even when it costs thousands of lives.

5. Masculinity and Gender Roles

Masculinity is tied to control and power. Violence can be justified as strength. By contrast, Israel, shaped by Jewish values of tikkun olam (repairing the world), often struggles with this approach, torn between morality and necessity.

6. Religion vs. Culture

Even secular Arabs often carry values rooted in centuries of Islamic and tribal influence: male authority, rejection of weakness, glorification of martyrdom. These ideas feed Hamas’s narrative and recruitment.

Why the West Misjudges Israel

The Western world cannot grasp the logic of Hamas because it operates outside Western moral frameworks. In the West, protecting civilians is the highest goal. In Gaza, civilians are weapons, deliberately placed in harm’s way.

During the 2023 war, Israel revealed extensive Hamas tunnels under hospitals like Al-Shifa. These tunnels were not “rumors,” but confirmed by on-site evidence, including weapons caches and command centers. Hamas had transformed hospitals into military bases, using patients as shields. Yet when Israel exposed this, many international voices still accused Israel of attacking healthcare.

When Israel warns civilians to evacuate before striking terrorist infrastructure sometimes even making over 100,000 phone calls or dropping leaflets, Western commentators accuse Israel of “collective punishment.” When Hamas fires rockets from schools, mosques, and playgrounds, those same commentators remain silent.

The reality is this: Israel values life, Hamas values death. Israel mourns every innocent loss, even of its enemies. Hamas celebrates death and rewards the families of suicide bombers.

This is not just a difference of politics; it is a difference of civilization.

The Sad Outcome of a Cultural Clash

Negotiations, peace talks, and international mediation may look good on paper, but they fail in practice because they rest on a false assumption: that both sides value life equally and seek compromise. The reality is different.

The atrocities of October 7, 2023, prove this point beyond debate. Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and carried out one of the bloodiest massacres of Jews since the Holocaust. At the Nova music festival, over 360 young people were slaughtered, many hunted down in bomb shelters. Survivors testified of women being raped beside the bodies of their murdered friends. Parents were tied up and executed in front of their children, and in some cases, children were executed in front of their parents. Over 250 hostages were dragged into Gaza, from babies as young as 9 months old to elderly Holocaust survivors.

And yet, instead of condemning Hamas, many in the West doubted these accounts until videos taken by the terrorists themselves were released, showing the horrors in graphic detail. This cruelty is not accidental; it is intentional, celebrated, and rewarded in Gaza’s culture of martyrdom.

Independent Confirmation of Hamas Atrocities

Israel’s reports of Hamas brutality are not isolated claims. Multiple international bodies and independent investigators confirmed the atrocities:

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, organizations often critical of Israel, verified that Hamas executed civilians and committed sexual violence on October 7.
• United Nations investigators reported “reasonable grounds to believe” that rape and sexual torture were used systematically by Hamas.
• Forensic experts from the EU and U.S., invited to Israel, examined recovered bodies and confirmed torture, mutilation, and deliberate targeting of children.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed Hamas’s denial of access to Israeli hostages violated international law.
• Even the BBC and CNN, after independent verification, confirmed Hamas used hospitals like Al-Shifa and Rantisi for military operations.

These confirmations are crucial because they dismantle the narrative that “Israel exaggerates.” The world saw, with its own eyes, the barbarity that Israel has faced for decades.

What Arab States Say

It is telling that even Arab governments, who share language, religion, and culture with the Palestinians, have refused to take them in. Egypt closed its Rafah border during the 2023 war, with President el-Sisi warning that Hamas fighters would infiltrate among civilians and destabilize Egypt. Jordan’s King Abdullah bluntly stated: “No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt.” Saudi Arabia, while publicly condemning Israel, privately warned the U.S. of Hamas’s extremism and its ties to Iran. The United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in the Abraham Accords, accused Hamas of “dragging Gaza into disaster.”

Why? Because these states know Hamas’s true face. They have seen firsthand how Palestinian militants tried to destabilize Jordan in 1970 (Black September), how Hamas smuggles weapons through Sinai into Egypt, and how its ideology is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Arab world itself does not trust Hamas and that silence speaks louder than words.

Conclusion: Who Is Accountable?

The accountability for cruelty lies not with Israel, but with Hamas and the culture of death it fosters. The West must stop projecting its values onto a region that does not share them. Israel is not exaggerating the threats it faces; it is confronting them with courage and moral clarity.

The truth is simple: Israel fights because it has no choice. Hamas kills because it chooses to. Until the West understands this, it will continue to misjudge Israel and to empower cruelty instead of confronting it.