Do Not Accept Propaganda by Hamas and Their Western Supporters

The acceptance of Trump’s 20-point plan on ending the war in Gaza and rehabilitation of the area by Benjamin Netanyahu and several Arab and Muslim countries, including Qatar was welcome by many leaders in Europe and Middle East.

However not everybody is happy, primarily Hamas. They claim that the proposal ignores Palestinian rights, supports more Israel than Hamas. They also object to start the process with immediate release of all hostages, a step that would take away the incentive for Israel to withdraw IDF, and also loss of protection for Hamas and finally that disarmament represents a red line for Hamas. Reading this I was thinking do not Hamas leaders realize the extent of Naqba they brought on Gazans and really on other Palestinians? Don’t they realize that they are in a corner or rather in an underground tunnel like a pack of rats, that they lost and that the proposal gives them a free passage out of Gaza? Don’t they realize that most of other Arab and Muslim countries are in favor of the proposal and some of them are ready to participate in rebuilding Gaza into a habitable place with viable livelihood opportunities for Gazans? How can Hamas claim that the proposal will lead to ethnic cleansing and Israel occupation of Gaza? Do they really believe that – are they so delusional? It is the opposite. Israel is not planning to occupy and colonize Gaza, on the contrary, the involvement of Arab countries shows a new way for Palestinians to achieve better economy and lives for their families, and also a possibility of more freedom and future participation in governing Gaza. Or is its main if not only goal of Hamas to continue in its terrorist pathway hoping that it would lead to destruction of Israel?

There are supporters of Hamas delusions and likely of a rejection of the plan. Guess, who they are. According to several sources, including Jerusalem Post and BBC, many of anti-Israeli activists live in the West. Though these people claim to be pro-Palestinian their reaction to the Trump proposal shows they are Hamasniks enjoying Western standards of living, good, mostly academic positions and free speech allowing them to spew hatred on Israel and the US. Most, but not all of these people are Arab and Muslim. For example, according to Medea Benjamin, a Jewish co-founder of CODEPINK, the proposal represents a “demand of surrender” by colonial and imperial powers that would lead to permanent occupation, not clear whether by Israel or by an international committee lead by Donald Trump and Tony Blair.

According to Yasemin Acar, a prominent participant of the Sumud flotilla, and other so-called spokesmen denounced the US and Israel as illegitimate powers to advocate for peace. The same goes for most of these “protectors” of Palestinians, be it academics such as Noura Erakat, a professor at Rutgers University or just provocateurs. All of them should be considered Hamas propagandists and terror supporters, and not pro-Palestinian activists. Americans for Justice in Palestine spewed out a nonsense claiming that “peace cannot be a reward for criminality. It cannot be built atop Israel’s occupation of Palestine, its repeated assaults on Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and beyond.” It seems that these people have it backward – is it really Israel who attacked all of the above, weren’t Hamas and Hezbollah attacking Israel? Instead of peace and reconciliation they preach permanent war of Palestinians against Israel that could only end with destruction of Israel.

I have no idea how many of these propagandists are living among us but we should recognize for what they are: supporters of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, anti-Israel propagandists and antisemites, anti-democratic forces and Islamists. I hope that not only most freedom loving citizens of the free world understand this, but that people like Palestinians living not only in the West, but also in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria will reject Hamas and Hamasniks claiming to be the true representatives of Palestine. The Trump proposal should encourage them to do so.