Of course Hamas butchered the Bibas boys.
Don't be surprised by Hamas' Islamic barbarism. Be surprised by your neighbors, colleagues, and friends who excuse it — and then do something about it while you still can.
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The Israeli army said Friday that forensic examinations revealed Palestinian terrorists murdered children Ariel and Kfir Bibas “with their bare hands” weeks after their kidnapping in Israel on October 7, 2023.
“We can confirm that baby Kfir Bibas, just 10 months old, and his older brother Ariel, aged four, were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza no later than November 2023,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a televised statement.
None of this should shock or surprise anyone. We know who Hamas is and what they (cowardly) stand for; they have told us for decades crystal clear, plain and simple. The massacre and kidnappings of October 7th only reinforced what has long been known: Hamas operates with an utter disregard for human life, including that of innocent children.
What should be urgently troubling to all of us who appreciate Western values is how quickly many people around the world rationalized, excused, or even celebrated these atrocities; or continue to call for “context” or to treat Hamas as a legitimate political entity; or seek to establish any type of moral equivocation between Hamas and Israel.
Politicians and bureaucrats, universities and other institutions of education, so-called “reputable” mainstream media outlets, and international organizations — institutions that claim to champion human rights — have been complicit in shifting the focus away from Hamas’ atrocities and instead directing their outrage at Israel for daring to defend itself. The idea that there can be any moral equivalence between a democratic state protecting its citizens and a terrorist organization that murders infants with its bare hands is not just absurd; it is obscene.
We can no longer afford to ignore the writing on the wall. We are quickly approaching an inflection point, with 25 percent of the world (one out of every four people) submitting to a death cult called Islam. I know that there are peaceful Muslims. And I know that there are violent Jews (and Christians, Catholics, Buddhists, and so forth). That completely misses the point.
The issue is not about individuals, but about ideology. It is not about whether some Muslims are kind and law-abiding citizens — of course, many are. Nor is it about whether members of other religious groups have committed acts of violence — of course, they have.
The difference is that, while other religions have gone through reformations, embraced modernity, and largely accepted the principles of secular governance, Islam, in many parts of the world, has remained an unreformed, theocratic ideology that fuses politics, law, and daily life into a rigid, authoritarian system which demands absolute submission.
This is not just a theoretical concern; it is an observable reality. In nearly every nation where Islam dominates, religious minorities face persecution, women have few or no rights, freedom of speech is curtailed, and apostates are threatened with death. Even in Western nations, where religious freedom is a foundational value, we have seen Islamist movements demand special treatment, push for Sharia law accommodations, and, in many cases, engage in violent acts against those who criticize their ideology.
The argument that “all religions have extremists” is a deliberate deflection meant to obscure the fundamental issue: No other religious group in the modern world has a global movement dedicated to violent jihad, the destruction of entire nations, and the systematic eradication of those who refuse to submit to its rule. No other religious ideology produces terrorist networks on the scale of Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Taliban, and the Iranian regime.
And yet, rather than confront this reality, the West continues to look away. We indulge in self-deception, pretending that the problem is only a “small radical minority,” even as polls show widespread support for Sharia law in many Muslim-majority countries, even as Western cities see mass demonstrations openly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, even as free speech is eroded by laws that criminalize “Islamophobia” while allowing blatant antisemitism and incitement against the West to flourish.
The point is not about demonizing individuals; it is about recognizing the undeniable pattern that has played out time and again throughout history. Wherever radical Islam gains power, the result is the same: oppression, violence, and the destruction of freedom. We must stop pretending that this is just another cultural difference to be respected. This is not about peaceful coexistence; it is about survival.
If we continue to ignore the writing on the wall, if we continue to allow mass immigration without unapologetically demanding assimilation (or deportation), if we continue to silence those who speak out in the name of political correctness, then we are paving the way for our own destruction. This is not alarmism; it is reality.
For too long, much of the West has been paralyzed by fear, political correctness, and a naïve belief that all cultures and ideologies are equally committed to peace and coexistence. But reality tells a different story.
The violent jihadist ideology that fuels groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and ISIS — as well as the regimes in Qatar, Turkey, and Iran — is not an aberration; it is deeply rooted in an extremist interpretation of Islam that glorifies martyrdom, jihad, and the annihilation of infidels. It is a belief system that does not seek compromise but conquest, that does not value life but death, and that sees the destruction of Israel not as a political goal, but as a religious obligation.
Western leaders and intellectuals, afraid of being labeled “Islamophobic,” have willfully ignored the pattern that has played out across the world: from the streets of Europe, where Islamist attacks have become tragically routine, to the Middle East, where radical groups rule with terror, to the West’s own cities, where young minds are being indoctrinated into an ideology that rejects the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.
This is not about a mere geopolitical conflict happening somewhere far, far away. It is a civilizational battle between those who cherish life and those who glorify death. It is a battle between those who believe in progress and those who wish to drag the world back to a medieval theocracy.
And yet, how many people do we know who claim to champion everything that is right about the West while, at the same time, welcoming in immigrants and excusing homegrown terrorists who despise those very values? How many politicians, journalists, and so-called intellectuals have spent decades reassuring us that assimilation will naturally happen, that radicalism is just a fringe issue, and that the real problem is “Islamophobia” rather than the ideology that fuels violence and intolerance?
This willful blindness has brought us to the brink of disaster. We have imported millions of people from societies where antisemitism, misogyny, and religious supremacy are not fringe ideas but mainstream beliefs. And rather than insisting that they assimilate into the values of the free world, we have bent over backward to accommodate their most regressive, dangerous, and anti-democratic tendencies.
We have allowed entire neighborhoods in Western cities to become enclaves of radicalism, where Sharia law is quietly enforced, where young people are taught to hate the very countries that took them in, and where it is no longer safe to be a Jew, a woman who refuses to cover her hair, or a dissenter from Islamist ideology.
Even more disturbing is the way homegrown radicalism has been excused and even encouraged by elites who refuse to acknowledge its source. When second- and third-generation jihadists commit terror attacks, we are told that they were “alienated” or that economic hardship led them to violence — as if murdering civilians is an understandable reaction to joblessness.
Universities, media outlets, and advocacy groups that claim to stand for freedom and tolerance have instead become breeding grounds for hatred, where students and activists chant the slogans of terrorist organizations, openly call for the extermination of Jews, and use the language of “decolonization” to justify the most barbaric atrocities.
We see the results of this appeasement everywhere. In London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Sydney, and Pretoria, Jews are being hunted in the streets, forced to hide their identities out of fear. In schools, children are being indoctrinated to believe that Israel is an illegitimate state and that its destruction is a just cause. In the media, grotesque acts of terrorism are reframed as acts of resistance, while Israel’s self-defense is condemned as unadulterated aggression.
How did we get here? Because too many people have chosen cowardice over courage. They have chosen to preserve their reputations rather than tell the truth. They have chosen to label those who sound the alarm as “racists” or “Islamophobes” rather than confront the reality that Western civilization is under siege from within.
It is no longer enough to recognize the problem; we must act. That means ending the suicidal policies that allow radical ideologies to take root in our societies. It means cutting off funding to Islamist groups that operate under the guise of civil rights organizations. It means prosecuting those who incite violence, deporting those who refuse to assimilate, and demanding that Western governments protect their own citizens before worrying about offending the sensitivities of those who hate them.
Most of all, it means regaining the moral confidence to say, without hesitation, that our civilization — rooted in freedom, human dignity, and the rule of law — is superior to the barbarism we are seeing spread across the world. If we fail to do so, we will not only lose the West as we know it — we will lose the right to call ourselves defenders of justice, truth, and humanity.
And if we fail to recognize the threat for what it is, if we continue to excuse and enable the spread of this ideology, then the horrors of October 7th will not be an isolated event; they will be a preview of the future.
We must stop pretending that peace can be negotiated with those who see peace as surrender. We must stop funding and legitimizing regimes and organizations that use our own values of tolerance and democracy against us. We must demand accountability from leaders who refuse to call this evil by its name.
Most importantly, we must recognize that the time for appeasement is over. The future of Western civilization depends on our willingness to stand up, to speak the truth, and to act decisively against an ideology that has declared war on everything we hold dear.
If we fail, we will not only betray the memory of Ariel and Kfir Bibas; we will betray our own children and grandchildren, who will inherit a world far darker than the one we were given.
There are those who focus on other important issues like the economy, social services, social justice, climate change, and a host more. These issues are all important, but they are nowhere near as important as the civilizational battle described above.
What good is a strong economy if the society it supports is collapsing from within? What is the point of fighting for social justice if the very freedoms that allow us to debate justice are being eroded by those who see democracy as a weakness to exploit? What use is climate activism if the world we are preserving is being handed over to an ideology that seeks to dominate rather than coexist?
Every policy debate — taxation, education, energy, health care — presupposes a stable civilization, one in which people share a common commitment to basic freedoms, human dignity, and the rule of law. But that foundation is no longer guaranteed. We are facing an existential threat not just from external enemies, but from an internal rot that excuses, rationalizes, and even enables the forces that seek to destroy us.
If this civilizational struggle is lost, none of the other issues people passionately debate will matter. A prosperous economy will not save us from a future where Islamist extremists dictate laws and policies. Social justice will mean nothing if basic freedoms — speech, religion, equality under the law — are replaced by submission to an ideology that punishes dissent with death. Environmental concerns will be irrelevant in a world where jihadist regimes and their collaborators, not democratic governments, dictate the terms of global policy.
And yet, many people — especially in the West — refuse to acknowledge this reality. They distract themselves with causes that, while important in a stable society, are virtually meaningless in a collapsing one.
And then there are the people who get way too wrapped up in the politics of the day (whether real or imagined). Your political party of patronage will mean nothing if the civilization that sustains it goes up in flames. The endless debates over Left versus Right, progressive versus conservative — these will all be rendered pointless if the foundational values that allow for political discourse are eroded by an ideology that sees democracy not as a system to be improved, but as a weakness to be exploited.
People argue over tax rates, healthcare policies, and election strategies as if these are the defining struggles of our time, oblivious to the fact that there are forces at work that seek to dismantle the very framework that allows those debates to take place. What good is your preferred economic policy if your nation’s streets are ruled by violent mobs enforcing religious fundamentalism? What does it matter who wins the next election if the values of free speech, law and order, and personal liberty are being steadily replaced by theocratic dogma?
Some people treat politics as a sport, cheering for their side as if victory in the next election will solve everything. But the real battle is not between political parties; it is between those who believe in preserving the values of Western civilization and those who are actively working to undermine them. I wish I could say that the West is just in another policy debate, but it is not. It is in a war for survival, and many of its citizens are too distracted to notice.
The people who obsess over every minor political scandal, every media narrative, every social media post, every headline, every snippet of someone’s speech, fail to grasp the bigger picture: If the West loses this civilizational battle, politics as we know it will cease to matter. There will be no meaningful elections, no vibrant public debates, no room for ideological diversity — only submission to an ideology that does not tolerate dissent.
And yet, too many folks remain fixated on partisan squabbles, blind to the fact that their ideological opponents within the political system are not the true enemy. The true enemy is the force that seeks to dismantle the West’s institutions, replace free societies with oppressive rule, and impose a worldview that sees democracy and human rights as expendable obstacles to their ultimate goal.
We cannot afford to keep playing political games while the walls of civilization are being breached. There is no Left or Right when the foundational values of a free society are at stake — only those who are willing to fight for them and those who, whether through ignorance, cowardice, or complicity, allow them to be destroyed.
Worse, some people in the West actively collaborate with the forces undermining civilization, whether by justifying radical ideologies in the name of tolerance or by silencing those who dare to speak uncomfortable truths.
History teaches us that great civilizations do not fall overnight; they erode from within before they are conquered from without. The question before us now is whether we will have the courage to recognize the battle for what it is and fight accordingly, or whether we will allow ourselves to be lulled into complacency, believing that the comforts of the present will somehow protect us from the dangers of the future.
We can never eradicate evil in the world. Sadly, the senseless killings of 4-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir Bibas are sure to happen again in some form or fashion. But we can protect our societies from tolerating and certainly embracing that evil. We can build strong, resilient nations that refuse to excuse the ideologies that justify such barbarism.
We can enforce laws that prioritize the safety and security of our citizens over the sensitivities of those who seek to undermine our way of life. We can demand that those who immigrate to our countries embrace the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights, rather than allowing them to import the same oppressive ideologies that have destroyed the places they left behind. And, if they refuse to do so, we can vote for politicians who have the courage to show these immigrants the door out.
Most important, we must cultivate the moral clarity to recognize that some threats cannot be reasoned with, appeased, or ignored; they must be confronted head-on. Evil may always exist, but it is within our power to ensure that it does not gain a foothold in our societies, that it does not dictate the future for our children, and that it does not destroy the civilization that generations before us fought to build and protect.
Absolutely. This is a very very important message that many of us have been trying so hard to put forward. And yet, far too many comfortable Westerners just don't hear it or believe it; they think if only Israel did not exist, neither would the extremism. Even many diaspora Jews believe that. I don't know how much more evidence the Western world needs to finally believe the truth about Islamic extremism and it just might be too late when they finally do. And when they do, they will STILL blame Israel as the cause of the extremism because--Jews. The world is irrational when it comes to Jews, obviously. As for the Muslim Reformation Movement that also seeks to alert the world about the dangers of extreme Islam, it is a wonderful and necessary movement and we see it working beautifully in the UAE in conquering extremism and one that the moderate Arab states in the Middle East are trying to promote; it will become a bigger effort once Israel finishes this war (very soon) as the Middle East attempts to become more like the UAE (and the moderate states will have to battle their own extremists within their countries to accomplish this goal). As one UAE official said this past year, "It is safer right now to be a visible Jew in the UAE than it is to be a visible Jew in New York City."
Here we are again in the depths of collective sorrow and mourning; and once again this draconian depravity plays out over and over again. What will it take to understand what we are dealing with? The clash of civilizations is in full display. The Palestinians are Hamas. Hamas are the Palestinians. These psychopaths will continue to murder the Jews, the Christians, the apostates and anyone who opposes their medieval ideology.