Want to know how it Feels to Receive So Many Hate-Filled Comments?

Don’t worry — I’ll keep blocking the pro-terrorists

This is a guest post from the JPF family by published author, G.P. Gottlieb.

All stories written by Reuben Salsa (every Thursday, 8 am Auckland time) are for paid subscribers only. Guest posts will remain free and posted every Sunday and the occasional Tuesday (8 am Auckland time).

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Photo by Mattia on Unsplash

Among the many angry, pro-terrorist responses I received for my essay about Amnesty International’s one-sided re-telling of Israel’s history, were two young women who seem to have learned everything they know from social media.

I’m not going to spar with uneducated and probably antisemitic girls who are eager to excuse Hamas for its repugnant behavior, but I should thank them for giving me yet another opportunity to refute some of the Iranian propaganda that has been floating around the West these past twenty or so years.

Listen, ladies, I’m not sure where you were educated, but you are sorely lacking in these “facts” about which you profess to know so much. First, there’s Gloria, who wrote, “Amnesty [International] said Israel is committing a genocide. This is a fact. Iran and Hamas and Hezbollah are not/ have not committed genocide.”

What makes a biased organization’s pronouncement into a “fact,” Gloria?

Hamas and Hezbollah (may its name be obliterated) were created for the sole purpose of destroying Israel as a Jewish state. Do you know who came up with the word “Genocide,” and what it means? Iranian, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi leaders have been very clear that their intention is to wipe the Jewish state off the map. They want to kill all the Jews and destroy the Jewish state. That is Genocide.

And what is Israel’s goal? Survival. Israel wants to destroy the terrorists. Terrorists are neither a religion nor a people, and there isn’t a word for wanting to destroy them, except perhaps, “war.”

Then there’s Isabella, who wrote a whole list of silliness. Here are my faves:

1. “An occupier can never defend itself in occupied land (under international law) and Gaza is occupied by Israel.”

2. “How many people would have survived if Israel had found the entrance to the tunnels and invaded them, not bomb the CIVILIAN infrastructure on top of the tunnels which does nothing to the tunnels? God, you people are so brain-dead it not even funny.” [sic]

And 3. “Israel attacked them in 1967 and illegally occupied land. Your attempt to spin it on the oppressed is shameful.”

Isabella is a pretty name — I use it for a character in one of the books I’m writing. Too bad this one is such a ditz.

Dear Isabella,

1. The Israeli army is in Gaza to rescue the captives (who’ve been starved and tortured for 451 days) and to destroy Hamas’s ability to keep killing Jews. Israel turned Gaza over to its residents in 2005. After Hamas took over in 2007, it spent those so-called “blockade” years amassing enough materials to build 400 miles of tunnels, thousands of rocket launchers, and thousands of weapons caches. Kind of a weak blockade, wasn’t it? Hamas (and its main funder, IRAN) continues to advocate for the destruction of the Jewish state (AKA: Genocide). If Hamas wanted to get Israel out of Gaza this time, all they’d need to do is stop shooting rockets into Israel and return the captives who’ve been tortured and starved these 451 days (are you getting how important this point is?).

2. Do you know why Israel couldn’t find the entrances to the tunnels? Because they were hidden under hospitals and children’s beds, schools, and mosques. Do you know why Israel didn’t just send gas or chemicals through the tunnels? Because Hamas continues to hold hostages/captives including 6 Americans, and they don’t deserve to suffer anymore (again, this is a crucial point that many of your co-hating pals have managed to forget). Do you have a military background that allows you to guess what Israel should have done to destroy 400 miles of tunnels without affecting the homes and buildings those tunnels were built beneath? Calling those of us who stand against terrorism “brain dead” might be acceptable on campus, but in the real world, there is no country that would allow its children and elderly citizens to be randomly knifed or shot by crazed terrorists.

3. Let’s discuss what happened in 1967, Isabella, because you clearly haven’t read a factual accounting of that war. Here’s what Britanica has to say, and this is from the official U.S. Office of the Historian. I’m sure you can find new and non-factual descriptions for all kinds of historical events, including the 6-day war, but unreliable sources will yield unreliable, often fake results.

I understand that both Gloria and Isabella are upset about the devastation in Gaza. Anyone who isn’t disturbed by it is lacking a sense of empathy, but that devastation was instigated and carried out mostly by Hamas. Hamas started this war (during a ceasefire) with their brutal October 7th massacre, videotapes of torture and rape, burning of entire families, and kidnapping of women, children, and elderly citizens of several nations. Hamas put their citizens at risk by planting weapons and launching facilities under and among buildings and homes. Hamas made a big stink about famine and starvation, but that was for show. Thousands of food and supply trucks were sent into Gaza every day. Hamas orchestrated most of the suffering in Gaza, and look how successful they were! They got your attention, didn’t they?

Yes, peace in the Middle East has eluded many brilliant politicians and leaders, but let’s not forget that Palestinian leaders turned down the very first offer of a state (see 1947) because they did not want a Jewish state next door.

Before attacking on October 7, 2023, Hamas knew that Israel would stop at nothing to redeem the captives/hostages, and Hamas knew that stocking weapons and rocket launchers under schools and mosques was going to lead to vast devastation. When Israel sent flyers to warn residents to flee, there was documented evidence of Hamas fighters battling against residents who were trying to escape. There is video of Hamas stopping aid vehicles and stealing supplies and food to sell at ridiculous prices to Gazan citizens.

There is also clear evidence of the lies and misinformation that Hamas and its funders have been spreading for years. I will continue to block people like Gloria and Isabella because I don’t have time to argue with every brainwashed person who has bought into the “blame Israel for everything” lie.

I’m not interested in discussing Israel’s right to exist with people who have no idea what Judaism is or understand that Israel is the land where Judaism was born thousands of years before Islam came along (regardless of your biases about who deserves the land of Israel).

I have nothing to say to those who claim that Jesus (a rabbi) was Palestinian even though the Romans hadn’t yet renamed the land “Palestina” as a sort of “Fuck You” to the Jews. And I’m not going to spend time explaining why the accusations of organizations filled with terrorists or pro-terrorists (hello UNRWA and U.N. Security Council, among others) are just propaganda. All the moaning about how the IDF attacked hospitals can be explained by how Hamas took over nearly every hospital in Gaza (and those who don’t understand international law should stop quoting it because once terrorists take over a hospital, you can’t complain when they are routed).

Do you know what I’ll do if you call me names (the best one was “nazi whore”) and write drivel about how “IDF destroyed a hospital with no provocation,” or “the IDF did this bad thing for no reason whatsoever,” or “Israel has no right to exist?”

I will block you like I just blocked Gloria and Isabella. You can put on a keffiyeh and mask and go shout genocidal, “from the river to the sea” slogans at the next pro-terror gathering coming to a campus near you. I’m sure that’ll make you feel like you’re doing your part to make the world better.