Why should anyone expect peace between the Palestinians and Israel while Palestinian leaders glorify terrorism and armed groups continue to attack Israelis?Above all, how can there ever be peace in the Middle East if the Iranian regime is tanding on its feet and supporting the jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel?
[A] central obstacle to peace: the continuing willingness of Palestinians to celebrate violence against Israelis while presenting terrorism as supposedly legitimate national resistance.
This central obstacle is not all that different from what we are seeing this month in France, as well as Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Albania and even South Korea, where there virtually are no Palestinians or Jews.
Israel is just the pretext. If you think that a Palestinian state, or an election defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or even the disappearance of Israel itself — would solve anything, you would be wrong. What the West is up against is the desire of Muslim extremists, with a leg-up from Marxists, to overthrow the “corrupt” West and replace it with Islamic Sharia law and eventually global caliphate. Only after this transformation will the world have the “peace” part of the “Religion of Peace.” Until then, as the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, vowed, “there will be struggle” (lit. jihad).
These statements, coming from terrorist groups backed by the Iranian regime, reveal a political culture in which murdering Jews is not merely celebrated as an achievement and the terrorists are elevated as national heroes — the same wish holds true for all “infidels” wherever they are.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre demonstrated the devastating consequences of an extremist Islamist ideology that treats people of other religions, in this instance Jews, as a legitimate target. In Nigeria, Islamists treat Christians as legitimate targets. In India, they treat Hindus as a legitimate target. In France and the West, they treat democratic governance as a legitimate target. It is the same war. A few clearly terrified leaders in the West — in France, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain — might think that if there were a Palestinian state, it might keep the mob quiet for a while. Yes, until breakfast. That is also why US President Donald Trump should not make a “deal” with the rulers of Iran.
Hamas and other likeminded jihadists have no problem murdering civilians — whether in the US on 9/11, the London transit system, the Barcelona and Madrid attacks, Paris’s Bataclan Theater, Nice on Bastille Day, German Christmas Markets, the Manchester concert or anywhere else. They are convinced they will be rewarded for it, not just by European politicians in this life, but by Allah in the next — so that no matter how many babies or elderly people they kill torture or mutilate, it is all good.
Iran’s regime has recently slaughtered more than 36,500 of its own citizens, and continues to kill — so why should they care if they inflict the same horrors on anyone else?
Palestinian factions such as Hamas and PIJ, like the protesters throughout the West, continue to regard violence as a source of pride and a means of advancing their primary objective — in Israel, the elimination of the “Zionist entity” (Israel), and in the rest of the world, overthrowing man-made (as opposed to Allah-made) infidel democracies.
The silence of the Palestinian Authority — and other Arab and Muslim leaders — is also significant. No public statements condemning the Hebron attack have been issued by Palestinian leaders or representatives or any other Muslim world leader. They object only when it is their territory that is being bombed — which it often is by other Muslims.
Israel’s countermeasures have indeed caused hardship for local residents. Where, though, is any denunciation of the attacks that caused Israel’s security response?
The Palestinian people have been put — by their own leaders — in a horrible position of bearing the consequences of terrorist attacks while the Palestinian organizations that praise the attackers present themselves as champions of the people. They are not. Like the ruling butchers of Iran, they are holding the Palestinians and other Muslims hostage. If these captives hope to live, they cannot even protest.
The Palestinian Authority is frequently described by Western leaders and governments as a potential partner for peace.
The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem; it is not the solution — and wishing it were will not make it so. Its long-standing policy of paying monthly stipends to Palestinian terrorists who murder or wound Jews (“Pay-for-Slay”) makes it as rotten as Iran’s Palestinian terrorist proxies – Hamas and PIJ, or all the other terrorist groups whether Al-Qaeda, ISIS or Antifa.
The international community might begin to understand that peace requires more than diplomatic declarations and initiatives, ceasefires, and promises of Palestinian statehood, especially for self-declared terrorists. Peace requires a total rejection of terrorism, of the people organizing it, of those who carry it out, and it requires a political leadership willing to put the lives and future of ordinary Palestinians — and innocent civilians whoever they are — ahead of the interests of terrorists and of their own incompetent political careers.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other Palestinian factions praised the October 23 attack near the West Bank city of Hebron that killed two Israeli soldiers, describing it as heroic, legitimate and necessary.
Their reactions raise important questions: Why should anyone expect peace between the Palestinians and Israel while Palestinian leaders glorify terrorism and armed groups continue to attack Israelis?
How can anyone even talk about establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel while Palestinian leaders and armed groups “welcome” the killing of Jews?
Above all, how can there ever be peace in the Middle East if the Iranian regime is standing on its feet and supporting the jihad (holy war) to destroy Israel?
Two Palestinian terrorists attacked an Israeli military position near the Yehuda Junction outside Hebron, killing Israeli soldiers — Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20 — and wounding three others. The two terrorists were subsequently killed by Israeli troops.
What followed was not new, but as revealing as the attack itself. Several Palestinian factions rushed to praise the perpetrators, portray them as heroes, and call for more attacks.
Their statements exposed a central obstacle to peace: the continuing willingness of Palestinians to celebrate violence against Israelis while presenting terrorism as supposedly legitimate national resistance.
This central obstacle is not all that different from what we are seeing this month in France, as well as Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Albania and even South Korea, where there virtually are no Palestinians or Jews.
Israel is just the pretext. If you think that a Palestinian state, or an election defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or even the disappearance of Israel itself — would solve anything, you would be wrong. What the West is up against is the desire of Muslim extremists, with a leg-up from Marxists, to overthrow the “corrupt” West and replace it with Islamic Sharia law and eventually global caliphate. Only after this transformation will the world have the “peace” part of the “Religion of Peace.” Until then, as the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, vowed, “there will be struggle” (lit. jihad).
Hamas was among the first to respond to the soldiers’ murder. Abu Obaida, the spokesman for its Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, declared: “We bless the heroic Hebron operation carried out by the brave men of our people.” He went on to call on Palestinians to “rise up against the usurping [Israeli] occupier.”
This was not an appeal for restraint. It was an explicit call to expand the violence and murder more Jews.
PIJ also praised the attack and mourned the attackers, who were killed in a subsequent exchange of fire. In its statement, the terrorist organization described the operation as “a message sealed with pure blood.” It announced that similar killings would continue and urged Palestinians throughout the West Bank to escalate their attacks.
Fatah al-Intifada, a faction distinct from the Fatah party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, similarly praised the attack. It described it as a “natural and legitimate response” to Israeli government policies and declared that “resistance” operations would continue.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian Resistance Committees praised the attack as well and described it as a “legitimate and necessary response” and a “new blow and a strong slap” to Israel’s security, military and intelligence establishment.
These statements, coming from terrorist groups backed by the Iranian regime, reveal a political culture in which murdering Jews is not merely celebrated as an achievement and the terrorists are elevated as national heroes — the same wish holds true for all “infidels” wherever they are.
The language of “resistance,” “martyrdom,” and “legitimate response” is repeatedly used to justify violence, regardless of whether it advances Palestinian interests or even brings further suffering to ordinary Palestinians. It advances the cause of overthrowing the West.
The issue is not whether Palestinians may criticize Israeli policies. It is the refusal of Palestinian leaders and armed groups to draw any line between political opposition and the glorification of terrorism and jihad.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre demonstrated the devastating consequences of an extremist Islamist ideology that treats people of other religions, in this instance Jews, as a legitimate target. In Nigeria, Islamists treat Christians as legitimate targets. In India, they treat Hindus as a legitimate target. In France and the West, they treat democratic governance as a legitimate target. It is the same war. A few clearly terrified leaders in the West — in France, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain — might think that if there were a Palestinian state, it might keep the mob quiet for a while. Yes, until breakfast. That is also why US President Donald Trump should not make a “deal” with the rulers of Iran.
Hamas and other likeminded jihadists have no problem murdering civilians — whether in the US on 9/11, the London transit system, the Barcelona and Madrid attacks, Paris’s Bataclan Theater, Nice on Bastille Day, German Christmas Markets, the Manchester concert or anywhere else. They are convinced they will be rewarded for it, not just by European politicians in this life, but by Allah in the next — so that no matter how many babies or elderly people they kill torture or mutilate, it is all good.
Islam’s extremist leaders evidently do not care how great is the devastation and suffering they cause their own people — whether in the Gaza Strip or Iran. Iran’s regime has recently slaughtered more than 36,500 of its own citizens, and continues to kill — so why should they care if they inflict the same horrors on anyone else?
One might have hoped that the murders of the two Israeli soldiers this week would prompt a serious reassessment of the Palestinian strategy of terrorism. Instead, the statements after the Hebron attack suggest that major Palestinian factions such as Hamas and PIJ, like the protesters throughout the West, continue to regard violence as a source of pride and a means of advancing their primary objective — in Israel, the elimination of the “Zionist entity” (Israel), and in the rest of the world, overthrowing man-made (as opposed to Allah-made) infidel democracies.
These public glorifications of terrorism should concern anyone genuinely interested in a peaceful future not just for Palestinians and Israelis, but for the entire West.
The silence of the Palestinian Authority — and other Arab and Muslim leaders — is also significant. No public statements condemning the Hebron attack have been issued by Palestinian leaders or representatives or any other Muslim world leader. They object only when it is their territory that is being bombed — which it often is by other Muslims.
The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, WAFA, only highlighted Israel’s counterterrorism measures in Hebron, including road closures and arrests, after the murder of the two IDF soldiers. In their view, as usual, “it all started when he hit me back.”
Israel’s countermeasures have indeed caused hardship for local residents. Where, though, is any denunciation of the attacks that caused Israel’s security response?
The Palestinian people have been put — by their own leaders — in a horrible position of bearing the consequences of terrorist attacks while the Palestinian organizations that praise the attackers present themselves as champions of the people. They are not. Like the ruling butchers of Iran, they are holding the Palestinians and other Muslims hostage. If these captives hope to live, they cannot even protest.
The Palestinian Authority is frequently described by Western leaders and governments as a potential partner for peace.
If the Palestinian Authority leaders wish to be regarded as a credible alternative to Hamas, they need to demonstrate that difference in practice. Condemning Israeli actions while refusing to condemn the cause — the deliberate killing of Israelis — is no foundation for peace and stability.
The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem; it is not the solution — and wishing it were will not make it so. Its long-standing policy of paying monthly stipends to Palestinian terrorists who murder or wound Jews (“Pay-for-Slay”) makes it as rotten as Iran’s Palestinian terrorist proxies – Hamas and PIJ, or all the other terrorist groups whether Al-Qaeda, ISIS or Antifa.
There is also a telling contrast to the response of Israeli leaders to violence committed by Jewish extremists. After recent alleged attacks by a few settlers against Palestinians, Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine and European diplomats, Israeli President Isaac Herzog publicly condemned the violence.
At least the Israelis condemned the violence, regardless of the perpetrators’ identity. Palestinian leaders and factions need to be held to the same standard.
Israel has every right to protect its citizens and pursue whoever is responsible for terrorist attacks. Israel’s specific security measures should be assessed based on facts and in accordance with the law. There is, however, a mystifying contradiction in praising an attack against Israelis and then denouncing Israel for launching an operation against the perpetrators and the networks suspected of supporting them.
The international community might begin to understand that peace requires more than diplomatic declarations and initiatives, ceasefires, and promises of Palestinian statehood, especially for self-declared terrorists. Peace requires a total rejection of terrorism, of the people organizing it, of those who carry it out, and it requires a political leadership willing to put the lives and future of ordinary Palestinians — and innocent civilians whoever they are — ahead of the interests of terrorists and of their own incompetent political careers.
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