I Don’t Believe That the ‘Free Palestine’ Chorus Was Ever About Saving Innocent Gazans

I dare them to call on Hamas to surrender, to prove that Israel is the villain everyone believes…but they won’t

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Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I Don’t Believe That the ‘Free Palestine’ Chorus Was Ever About Saving Innocent Gazans

If I was asked who was losing the war between Israel and Hamas, I would say that neither of those parties are truly losing.

Who is? The people of Gaza.

Whether they are civilian women, children or men, Hamas fighters, Islamic Jihad fighters, UNWRA employees, terror-group members posing as journalists, or genuine journalists, they are the ones who are losing. I won’t, at this point, extend this loss to the damage to Gaza itself, nor to the environment, nor to the global population and the damage being wrought in societies throughout the world. That damage, though very real, is not the point of this essay.

So in the discussions of who should be the one to put down weapons and “cease fire” amid failed deal after failed deal, we need to think about the bigger picture of the accusations and condemnations worldwide.

Of course, the large chorus of voices around the world — notably those also calling for a “Free Palestine” (whether or not they even know what a Free Palestine really means in the context of its originating conception within the Palestinian National movement) — are calling Israel out to lay down their weapons, since Israel is clearly the country with the most destructive capabilities, as we have seen over the last 15 months.

At the same time and very much in conjunction with this call, these same voices are accusing Israel of war crimes, breaking international law, and genocide. Indeed, there is a lot that plays out on our news and social channels that would support those claims — evidence of the mass destruction of Gaza’s buildings, the continued bombings of hospitals and schools, and of tent encampments in the humanitarian zones. For most people, the evidence seen in video footage is enough to confirm this fact.

Of course, most of this footage and the captions and headlines along with them are coming directly from Gaza’s ministry, run by Hamas, Israel’s enemies in both physical and PR war, and quoting death tolls that have been proven false. Or they’re coming from Al Jazeera, the Qatari news agency that is funded by the same governing bodies that fund Hamas — just a clue that Al Jazeera may not be the impartial and moderate news channel it presents as.

My point is that none of this footage considers the “other side” — the fact that, along with finding, recovering, and releasing the hostages held by Hamas, Israel’s war goals are to eliminate Hamas’s military capabilities, and therefore pursue militants, who Israel claims are hiding out in these humanitarian zones, and using hospitals and schools as military bases.

Now, of course, Israel may be lying completely, as are the claims of the chorus of yelling voices around the world. It’s easy to make that claim and continue to condemn Israel for war crimes and genocide. Usually, when asked why these same people aren’t condemning Hamas and demanding the release of the hostages, their reason is that Hamas’s crimes of October 7th have paled in comparison to Israel’s. Or they deny that Hamas did anything and it was all a setup by Israel. Plus, Hamas represents a people provoked by 75 years of brutal occupation. Plus, Israel is holding onto thousands of Palestinian ‘hostages’ who, like every single one of the Israeli hostages, were completely innocent of any crimes. Except maybe throwing rocks or gunning down Israelis, though nothing much more than the Bibas children were likely doing in their beds at 6.30 am on 7th October. (Yes, I am being sarcastic.)

But putting all of those ‘who is more to blame’ arguments aside, one does have to ask seriously why these people — these loud voices that are yelling in the streets every weekend all over the West — aren’t calling for Hamas to put down its weapons and release the hostages, which Israel claims would put an end to the war. For all the claims that Israel is a genocidal nation and wants the war to go on and on, a ceasefire is a ceasefire, and if Hamas merely agreed to the demands of Israel, then it has to be presumed that a ceasefire would happen and the daily bombings and sniper attacks and killings would cease too. And whichever way you look at it, unless you’re determined to believe the bullshit narrative that Israel did it all, Hamas did start this round of violence in a totally horrific way that no one with half a brain would not expect retaliation to and has a duty to own that.

Not only that but, as I said earlier, when we look at who is really losing in this war, it’s the people of Gaza who have paid the biggest price. And that price is phenomenal. Hamas has the duty to its people to try to save them, surely? I mean, it’s ironic that the Israeli people have been demonstrating against their own government for their actions in Gaza, because they worried about the 240 hostages that were originally taken, and are still worrying about the 100 or so that remain. Yet, Hamas is simply watching thousands being killed and being allowed to get away with not coming to a deal.

And, in the 16 years of its rule prior to October 7th, it happily watched Gazan society become more impoverished and isolated from living dignified lives while pouring billions of Gaza’s aid money into building terror tunnels, weapons, and its members’ own pockets.

What are the risks of Hamas putting down its weapons and releasing the hostages? That Israel will continue existing and doing what it’s been doing for decades — some absolutely awful shit and some absolutely phenomenal shit. The other risk would be that Israel doesn’t stick to the ceasefire, and then the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court have total, indisputable grounds for incrimination. However, as things stand, Israel may have the spotlight on its actions but also has the upper hand in being able to defend its actions, no matter how loud these voices across the world are yelling. The yelling hasn’t yet changed that, even after 15 months of death and destruction.

Pressure, they say. We’ll keep putting pressure on our governments to put pressure on Israel.

Well sorry, but you’ve been putting pressure for the last 15 months and thousands of women and children have been killed while you’ve been patiently putting pressure, holding out for Israel to give in. Was that really the right side to be shouting at if you wanted the killing to end?

In reality, this is what Hamas wanted. In case you’re confused, this is what the doctor who saved the life of Yahya Sinwar in 2004, said of him:

“I asked Sinwar, is it worth 10,000 innocent Gazans dying? He said, even 100,000 is worth it.” — Source

In other words, Hamas doesn’t mind how many are killed. Dying Gazans are apparently the incentive for the West to put pressure on Israel, but Hamas has no incentive.

THAT is exactly why the entire world SHOULD put pressure on Hamas.

Israel has been losing the PR war since way before October 7th. The more Gazans killed in this war, the more they lose. Global support is at an all-time low. You’d think that the pressure of such a huge decline would be enough to convince Israel to agree to withdraw as part of a ceasefire agreement. So why would Israel not do so?

Because they know that Hamas is simply waiting for Israel to leave it alone in order to attack again. They know that because Hamas very clearly says in its charter that its goal is to rid the territory “from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea” of every single Jew. As long as Hamas remains strong and not under military pressure by the IDF, the Israeli population in its entirety is at risk.

Yes, Israel has the power to simply hit STOP on the military bombardments of Gaza, but would it bring back the hostages? And would it serve the security of either people if Hamas isn’t willing to surrender its position?

But if Hamas were to surrender, put down its weapons, hand over the remaining hostages, and walk away, the Gazan population would stand a chance of being led by a moderate government, and a path to peace could again be pursued as the way forward.

Yes, I think it’s still possible.

And pressure on Israel to stop its oppressive actions can still continue once this ongoing murder of Gazan civilians stops.

So for those who can only raise their voices to call Israel to account, perhaps it’s time to think about how effective they’ve been at saving the lives of the thousands of Gazans who were put at risk on October 7th, when Hamas decided to start a war. Had they demanded the surrender of Hamas, demanded that their governments did the same, and demanded that moves be made to enable peace in the region, however that can look, perhaps so many lives wouldn’t have been lost after all.

Perhaps, by choosing to focus on Israel as the perpetrator, they’ve only enabled the continued killing instead of helping to bring it to an end.

Perhaps they need to stop being so righteous and learn that peace requires cooperation and respect, even when it’s hard.

But the truth is that I don’t think that was ever really their goal. I think that hating and condemning Israel remains the precedent, and to change their tune to calling on Hamas to surrender would damage their egos too much. So instead, they continue to ‘pressure’ their governments, accuse Israel of acts that may never be proven anyway, and meanwhile continue to watch death play out in Gaza.