Media prophet Marshall McLuhan revolutionized our understanding of communications in the 1970s when he observed that “the medium is the message.” For the terrorists of Hamas, murder and medieval slaughter are clearly the medium. They are also the message.
The Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel was so horrific that it was not immediately apparent that Hamas’ violent actions were chiefly a media operation designed to drive a narrative and impact public opinion.
The mission of Hamas is to kill all the Jews, but they are also propelled by Iran to inflame anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism, not just in the Middle East, but worldwide. On Oct. 7 and in the days since, Hamas has demonstrated they are willing to let thousands—maybe millions—of Palestinians die to achieve that objective.
The deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza aren’t “collateral damage” in this war—they are the strategic feature. The higher the body count, the more effective Hamas can be in pushing the narrative that civilians are the victims of Israeli aggression—even though Hamas started the war.
That’s why Hamas has embedded its military operations in hospitals, schools and mosques. When Israel retaliates against their attacks, Hamas can blame them for killing Palestinian civilians without ever acknowledging that killing Palestinians was part of the Hamas plan.
We don’t know how many civilians have been killed because Hamas releases dubious numbers of casualties—like the 500 people who were supposedly killed by Israel in Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. In fact, many fewer were killed in that hospital from a rocket launched by Hamas.
American mainstream media is key to driving the terrorist narrative, but even CNN has confirmed that Hamas has been storing weapons and staging assaults from hospitals. Independent observers were able to quickly uncover the facts about the Al Ahli hospital, but if the protesters on the streets of America and Europe knew the truth, they ignored it.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib stuck with the hospital lie even as she was censured in the U.S. House. She continues to clamor for a ceasefire, forgetting that a ceasefire was in place until Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continues to pull bodies out of the rubble from the first attack, more and more evidence is being found that Hamas and Iran have been planning this assault for months, perhaps years. In addition to digging tunnels in Gaza and taking paragliding lessons in Iran, Hamas laid the real ground work far outside the Middle East.
Academic institutions have been engaged in a war on the West for decades, teaching that virtually everything that has been achieved by mankind—art, science, progressive thought, all advancement—is basically bad, illegitimate, rooted in white privilege and falsely linked to phony standards like merit and achievement. This crowd proclaims that most every facet of life in America is bad.
American elites have bought into this message and once you believe America is bad, it apparently is not all that hard to swallow the lie that terrorism via Hamas is good.
Hamas’ global communications plan is working masterfully. Influential elites in both America and Europe have rallied behind the terrorists.
They marched in the streets of the world’s largest cities even after the release of tapes which show Hamas gleefully killing, raping and mutilating Israelis in the Oct. 7 massacre. They are demanding a ceasefire even after the tape of the phone call of the young Hamas terrorist happily reporting, “Dad, Dad, I killed 10 Jews today!”
They are not even demanding that American hostages be released or acknowledging that a ceasefire would simply allow Hamas to regroup.
Bari Weiss reminds us that this most recent manifestation of the oldest ethnic hatred in the world is not just about the Jews, it is about all of us.
That is why it is so horribly ironic that over the past several weeks, the terrorists have had such an easy time getting Western leaders, particularly on the left, to take their side. In addition to the very sad “Queers for Palestine” crowd, it is almost laughable that Christian churches in America have signed a joint letter calling for a ceasefire. Homosexuality is a capital crime in Palestine and what do you think Hamas would do to American Christians if they aren’t stopped?
The ultimate goal for the terrorist collaboration headquartered in Iran is to obliterate the “great Satan,” which is the Western world in general and the U.S. in particular. Everyone who celebrates America freedom is on their list of infidels. They hate us.
Those who are calling for a cease fire insist they have the moral high ground, as they tell us that the lives of all children matter. They are right about that. That is exactly why Israel is fighting back and America is supporting it—because we believe that the lives of all children matter. All life is precious and the freedom to live those lives is sacred.
It is important to remember that in addition to the more recent pauses, Israel has from the beginning pleaded with Palestinians to get out of harm’s way and, from the beginning, Hamas has threatened to kill its own citizens if they attempt to leave.
Those calling for a ceasefire are missing the key difference in worldviews here. Hamas and their allies are not outraged about the lives of those children—they are just tools in their messaging war. Hamas wants a world where all the Jews are dead and America is brought to its knees. They don’t care how many children die to achieve that goal.
Israel is defending itself and all of us against Hamas’ dark and evil world view. That’s why America is supporting it in its fight to ensure that this does not ever happen again. Pray for them. Also pray that President Joe Biden is not pushed by Hamas’ allies on the left to back away from his support for Israel.