Terror works because the modern world lets it work. Kill civilians, film the horror, provoke retaliation, then weaponize the bodies for global sympathy. That’s the playbook. Hamas didn’t stumble into this strategy—it built it. The tunnels, the human shields, the media choreography, the moral theater: all designed to turn murder into leverage. And the West keeps rewarding it. Every activist who romanticizes “resistance” while ignoring the death cult underneath is helping the machine run. Terrorism isn’t senseless anymore. It’s calibrated. It manipulates emotion, hijacks media, and bends policy. Until the civilized world stops rewarding it, it will keep working.
As I read this excellent review of terror, I saw one common thread of victim mentality that always needs a scapegoat. Jew hatred provided that for a long time and it still continues to exist.
"Hamas knew full well that Israel would go deep and wide into Gaza after they attacked in such a savage manner."
I don't think there is evidence of this: most indications are that Yahya Sinwar expected that the hostages would temper Israel's response and that their release could take years, as in the Gilad Shalit case.
Hamas does not seem to have prepared for a deep Israeli incursion into Gaza, which explains how in 2 1/2 years of urban warfare IDF casualties totalled 472 dead, orders of magnitude less than what Western "military experts" were predicting. The well-positioned antitank emplacements and machine gun nests were not there.
I remember reading, maybe in the Jerusalem Post, that the Hamas command was surprised by the Israeli response. Yet the Israelis have always fought back so it should not have been a surprise.
Terror only "works" when we confuse means and ends. They believe they are using terror to achieve political ends, but that's where they make their fundamental mistake.
terror *becomes* the end - terrified people don't do politics. Politics is for people who aren't terrified.
Does it work in that it creates protests by useful idiots and posts by pundits, sure. But opinion is not conviction, propaganda is not information. People will obey those they fear, but will never love them. They know they will be treated as the terrorists treat all innocents - only their blood is needed.
If we adopt their terms, we've lost. Safety and love are two deeply primal human needs - good people know this, smart people plan for this.
Terror has already defeated itself, we're just here to complete the process.
Not a bad point. It doesn't have to work, of course. But for it not to work we need to make it so and understand the enemy. My point is they it can work, and it has worked in some places if you define terror as connected to totalitarianism.
Valid critique - I'm still curious if there's advantage - and utility - in seeing totalitarianism, like terrorism, as the failure of politics rather than "politics by other means."
As Orwell knew well, when we lose the battle over words and their meanings, all other "victories" are meaningless.
It's not easy, I know - we are quick to yield to an assumption of common understanding when terns that appear to be axiomatic - like what it means for something "work." But a simple question - what do you mean by 'work' may reveal that our friend believes that politics is the art of altering people's behavior, while we may believe politics is about changing the way others think, or even its - as was phrased by Bismarck - the "art of the possible."
Once politics is understood in this way, seeing terror as a legitimate political act is what it should be - what it was and will be - out of bounds.
Terror works because of the moral flaccidity of too many in the West. My opinion is that many, many in the Islamic world love killing and use the Koran as a cover for their lust for violence.
By the time I finished Yuval Noah Harari's second book, I realized that he lives in a make-believe world—one that is pleasant but devoid of reality. Harari is a globalist elitist attached to causes as status symbols that do not necessarily align with facts. He wants acceptance as an Israeli citizen by the world. However, as demonstrated throughout the history of Israel and the Jewish diaspora, we have seen that no one comes to save the Jewish people.
The French Philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and his notion of ethics and relation as determined by the encounter with the other comes to mind. His model of how others see us serves to understand the Jewish system of belonging. It is how others see us, how we are seen in their eyes and not how we see ourselves that matter.
As Douglas Murray noted, for Israelis, there is no other home, and history has shown that Jews cannot risk life without a state and an army. Similarly, Menachem Begin emphasized that the Jewish state was built through centuries of history and immense sacrifice. The immense sacrifice that is forced on Israel by their Arab neighbors who constantly attack Israel in an effort to wipe it out.
Terrorism does work, there's no denying it. Peace and love only work after terrorists have won and are able to rule with an iron fist. So if our enemies are correct, and Isreal and the u.s. are terrorists, the time for peace has come. We've conquered gaza and Iran thanks to Tump and Netanyahu,now comes the peace, ruled with an iron fist. Someone has to be in charge, might as well be the good guys.
It works for two reasons - 1) the woke-left mindset that believes that level of real grievance is directly proportional to the level of outrage, violence, and terror. This is obvious 🐂💩 as any number of well educated Muslims living in the West who become terrorists makes clear.
Terror works because the modern world lets it work. Kill civilians, film the horror, provoke retaliation, then weaponize the bodies for global sympathy. That’s the playbook. Hamas didn’t stumble into this strategy—it built it. The tunnels, the human shields, the media choreography, the moral theater: all designed to turn murder into leverage. And the West keeps rewarding it. Every activist who romanticizes “resistance” while ignoring the death cult underneath is helping the machine run. Terrorism isn’t senseless anymore. It’s calibrated. It manipulates emotion, hijacks media, and bends policy. Until the civilized world stops rewarding it, it will keep working.
As I read this excellent review of terror, I saw one common thread of victim mentality that always needs a scapegoat. Jew hatred provided that for a long time and it still continues to exist.
"Hamas knew full well that Israel would go deep and wide into Gaza after they attacked in such a savage manner."
I don't think there is evidence of this: most indications are that Yahya Sinwar expected that the hostages would temper Israel's response and that their release could take years, as in the Gilad Shalit case.
Hamas does not seem to have prepared for a deep Israeli incursion into Gaza, which explains how in 2 1/2 years of urban warfare IDF casualties totalled 472 dead, orders of magnitude less than what Western "military experts" were predicting. The well-positioned antitank emplacements and machine gun nests were not there.
I remember reading, maybe in the Jerusalem Post, that the Hamas command was surprised by the Israeli response. Yet the Israelis have always fought back so it should not have been a surprise.
Terror only "works" when we confuse means and ends. They believe they are using terror to achieve political ends, but that's where they make their fundamental mistake.
terror *becomes* the end - terrified people don't do politics. Politics is for people who aren't terrified.
Does it work in that it creates protests by useful idiots and posts by pundits, sure. But opinion is not conviction, propaganda is not information. People will obey those they fear, but will never love them. They know they will be treated as the terrorists treat all innocents - only their blood is needed.
If we adopt their terms, we've lost. Safety and love are two deeply primal human needs - good people know this, smart people plan for this.
Terror has already defeated itself, we're just here to complete the process.
The terrorists have learned that terror works when they stick to murdering Jews. Then the west doesn't consider it terrorism.
I think you may have missed my point. Who defines what works - the civilized, or the savages?
If it's the civilized, then it only "works" if the result will be a better civilization. If it's the savages, then the result will be barbarism.
So, we must decide for ourselves if it's "working". Precise definitions are important - sloppy ones only aid the enemy.
Not a bad point. It doesn't have to work, of course. But for it not to work we need to make it so and understand the enemy. My point is they it can work, and it has worked in some places if you define terror as connected to totalitarianism.
Valid critique - I'm still curious if there's advantage - and utility - in seeing totalitarianism, like terrorism, as the failure of politics rather than "politics by other means."
As Orwell knew well, when we lose the battle over words and their meanings, all other "victories" are meaningless.
It's not easy, I know - we are quick to yield to an assumption of common understanding when terns that appear to be axiomatic - like what it means for something "work." But a simple question - what do you mean by 'work' may reveal that our friend believes that politics is the art of altering people's behavior, while we may believe politics is about changing the way others think, or even its - as was phrased by Bismarck - the "art of the possible."
Once politics is understood in this way, seeing terror as a legitimate political act is what it should be - what it was and will be - out of bounds.
Terror works because of the moral flaccidity of too many in the West. My opinion is that many, many in the Islamic world love killing and use the Koran as a cover for their lust for violence.
Love Medusa's origin story. Good to see it.
I think the West is drowning. Left idiots don't learn independently but follow.... And taking us all down the drain .
That's why you can't wage 7th C wars with 21st C laws.
By the time I finished Yuval Noah Harari's second book, I realized that he lives in a make-believe world—one that is pleasant but devoid of reality. Harari is a globalist elitist attached to causes as status symbols that do not necessarily align with facts. He wants acceptance as an Israeli citizen by the world. However, as demonstrated throughout the history of Israel and the Jewish diaspora, we have seen that no one comes to save the Jewish people.
The French Philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and his notion of ethics and relation as determined by the encounter with the other comes to mind. His model of how others see us serves to understand the Jewish system of belonging. It is how others see us, how we are seen in their eyes and not how we see ourselves that matter.
As Douglas Murray noted, for Israelis, there is no other home, and history has shown that Jews cannot risk life without a state and an army. Similarly, Menachem Begin emphasized that the Jewish state was built through centuries of history and immense sacrifice. The immense sacrifice that is forced on Israel by their Arab neighbors who constantly attack Israel in an effort to wipe it out.
Terrorism does work, there's no denying it. Peace and love only work after terrorists have won and are able to rule with an iron fist. So if our enemies are correct, and Isreal and the u.s. are terrorists, the time for peace has come. We've conquered gaza and Iran thanks to Tump and Netanyahu,now comes the peace, ruled with an iron fist. Someone has to be in charge, might as well be the good guys.
It works for two reasons - 1) the woke-left mindset that believes that level of real grievance is directly proportional to the level of outrage, violence, and terror. This is obvious 🐂💩 as any number of well educated Muslims living in the West who become terrorists makes clear.
2) Fear… which is the whole point of terrorism.