Hamas isn't a government. It's not a liberation or "resistance" movement. It's a gang, a mafia. Maybe that reframing will wake up more people to the reality in Gaza and other parts of the Middle East.
exactly. They accept anything at all as long as it's against the Jews. Anything: from Holocaust denial to ignoring that the Jihad is not only about Jews, but about death to ALL infidels (even themselves).
I love your writing Josh, and this was another nice summary for the choir; however, after 21 months of writing, nothing any of us write here means jack. Every other month I read that Israel will now finally get tough on Hamas. And every other month, Hamas claims another victory. Reminds me of the bad old days of the Vietnam War, just before the Tet offensive, when "We can see light at the end of the tunnel.". Right. That was the slow freight train coming at us and it took the U.S. 5 more years to get out of that morass. I was tired of hearing it then. I am tired of hearing it now. Israel needs to do what is necessary to get this war over now, make itself secure from the river to the sea, and take whatever fallout happens. The enablers and appeasers at the U.N. hate Israel anyway. May as well be hated for something worthwhile.
We need more articles like this for those who aren’t anti Semitic but don’t have the words to fight those who are. Middle Eastern history is muddled and complicated. Too many people pull their punches re Hamas . They fail to mention that it’s an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood. That every single leader is Egyptian. That Yasser Arafat was Egyptian. Mohammed Abbas, head of the PA. now, is Palestinian but it doesn’t seem to matter to Palestinians or the press. You’d think it would.
Obviously, this applies not only to Hamas, Hezbollah, the PA, and the Houthis, but also to Iran which gives them all military capabilities, and Qatar, which provides financial support.
Even if a state school does not have a dedicated major or minor in Middle East studies, student may participate in study abroad programs or within other majors, depending on the specific school.
Countries like Qatar provide financial and other support to universities. Prime example: "Georgetown University has a significant partnership with Qatar, primarily through its Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) campus, which is located in Education City, Doha. This partnership is facilitated by the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization established by the Qatari royal family. Georgetown has received substantial financial support from Qatar, including nearly $930 million in gifts and contracts since 2005." (Google AI)
Students live on social media. Much of their information on the Israel-Hamas war came from Tiktok with much graphic misinformation fed to them. Most directly, a nonprofit in the US (AJP Educational Foundation, Inc. a/k/a American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine) collaborated and propagandised for Hamas starting on October 8, on college campuses and Times Square. Nine American and Israeli victims of Hamas's October 7 attack filed a lawsuit against these entities. AMP and NSJP are liable to Plaintiffs for the damages they incurred because AMP and NSJP aid and abet Hamas's terrorism. Plaintiffs are represented by National Jewish Advocacy Center and three law firms. Nonstudents also protested in 2023-2024 off campus, e.g., Golden Gate Bridge blocked and freeway in Oakland, CA in April, 2024.
The problem with this formulation is that those who see Hamas as a gang rather than a government then see Israel as the defacto government rather than a sovereign nation at war with an enemy that attacked it. Yes Hamas a gang and thoroughly illegitimate. But so was Nazi Germany. Yet the Hitler regime was still the government and sadly so is Hamas. Too many people see Hamas as either a terrorist gang with no authority or responsibility or a resistance group with no authority or responsibility. In actuality it is a nihilistic murder gang dedicated to the murder of every Israeli and Jew in the world and it is also the only governing authority of Gaza.
The west CHOOSES to be played. It's one thing to be sympathetic, but at least put the blame where it belongs, on hamas. They know hamas created this situation, but they choose to blame Israel. No, I don't believe they are truly moved by the images coming out of Gaza, but rather just exploiting it to demonize Israel. It is so transparent. All we have to do is see the lack of coverage or interest in what's happening in Syria, Sudan, Yemen etc.
This is where the West gets played. While Hamas oppresses its own people and provokes wars that lead to preventable deaths across the board, it weaponizes Western empathy. It understands that images of suffering children will trigger outrage across Western television screen and social media feeds. So it deliberately manufactures those images — by storing weapons in schools, launching rockets from hospitals, and using civilian neighborhoods as human shields.
Hamas proclaims that the welfare of the Gazans is not their responsibility. Gazans must depend on NGO's Unrwa, the UN in gereral, the EU and yes America. This morning I hear Trump say that the starvation in Gaza is real and that Israel suspended military action for ten days. So even the US is promoting the big LIE. 40 Plus years of official Jew Hate weeks....and the week encompass the entire academic year....has paid off bigly. I could discern the seeds of this 50 years ago . Including radicalized anti Judaism Jews who were indifferent at best or openly hostile to Israel ....volunteered to cut sugar cane for the proletariat. Viva Cuba! My father was approached by Stalinist Jews to join up in the so called greatest generation. I don't see any reversal of this....not when NYC is about to elect its first billionaire oligarch jihadi gloabalize intifada mayor. with of course a segment to Jewish support...not by only gen Z but my former SDS atheist postJewish baby boomers who HATE Israel still. Howard Jacobson brilliantly satirizes in his The Finkler Question. even on FB a childhood friend from a post Jewish family posts viva palestina! so seeing my FB page then ignored me......after he iniitiated the contact.
great analogy ta our crips/bloods US gangs... Pahrdon the adjective but I'd like ta see this even more "fleshed out" in detail b/c it would become an even more powerful argue-mint an' drive home ta the woketards what they rilly ARE supportin'...violent gang warfare...not some noble "resistance"
So fer eggzample, when a GeeHaw'dist kills a joo an' becomes a martyr...their fam gits a big cash prize... I hear-tell that gang murders are similarly "incentivized".... in fact in some at least one kill or mortal wound'in is required so I hear... Similarities in how gangs/HamAss get their weapons? What about the way gangs hit up locals fer "protection" -- HamAss similar? I think this is too good ta just let pass-- perhaps PHOTOS might also be supportive --such as how both gangs & HamAss "dress" to scare...or share images of them indulgin' in ill-gotten gains (drugs? cash? arms? etc) I think this izza cow worth milkin'! Many cheer-on HamAss but I do bee-lieve few'd cheer on gang violence...
You're right that many people don't understand Hamas. But YOU don't understand that most people are primarily driven by irrational impulses and basic needs, including a strong need to belong to a group (I am not saying tribalism is always a bad thing. I am saying it is real and we all have that need). Appealing to their reason is not going to change their minds.
There is a theory in biology and social science called "costly signaling theory" (I think started by an Israeli academic). The idea is that groups want to minimize "cheaters", i.e. people (or sometimes animals in the case of biology) who want a benefit from belonging to the group, but are too lazy to contribute much to the group.
So many groups developed this strategy where anyone belonging to the group signals their sincerity and earnestness by doing (or believing) something costly that makes no sense except when viewed from this perspective, because most cheaters wouldn't want to do it. For example, Israeli leftists who still believe (after October 7) that Hamas is just a political party are signaling to other leftists worldwide how they are earnest, by believing such an absurd thing. They get lots of love and acceptance from their ingroup. Many religions also ask their adherents to believe and do absurd or difficult things, and the more absurd or difficult, the better for minimizing cheaters.
The WHOLE WORLD does NOT understand the SLIGHTEST THING about "Hamas" ! Otherwise they would refrain from any "demands" to Israel. But even inside Israel there are enough Dummies.
Do you REMEMBER ?: the "international community" had forced the Allies back in 1945 to GET OUT OF GERMANY ! - so that Hitler could retreat and kill himself. If the Allies wouldn´t have done that, then Germany could not have been defeated and the Concentration Camps could not have been freed.
So from these well-known historical facts it is CLEARLY rightful to demand of Israel to get out of "Gaza" before the "Palestine" fascists will declare defeat. I hope that has gotten clear now - that this "logic" will prevail at least as long as the "International Community" continues to have lost total sight of what is right and what is wrong.
If they continue to lose sight, then it´s obviously the only way to kill and let starve every single one in "Gaza", because if they don´t deliver all of Hamas to the world to hang them for all the world - and the crows - to see, if they don´t deliver all hostages unconditionally, no one in the world needs anyone of these shitty "Palestines".
The West does not WANT to understand. It will undermine their Jew hatred narrative.
exactly. They accept anything at all as long as it's against the Jews. Anything: from Holocaust denial to ignoring that the Jihad is not only about Jews, but about death to ALL infidels (even themselves).
None so blind as those who won't see.
I love your writing Josh, and this was another nice summary for the choir; however, after 21 months of writing, nothing any of us write here means jack. Every other month I read that Israel will now finally get tough on Hamas. And every other month, Hamas claims another victory. Reminds me of the bad old days of the Vietnam War, just before the Tet offensive, when "We can see light at the end of the tunnel.". Right. That was the slow freight train coming at us and it took the U.S. 5 more years to get out of that morass. I was tired of hearing it then. I am tired of hearing it now. Israel needs to do what is necessary to get this war over now, make itself secure from the river to the sea, and take whatever fallout happens. The enablers and appeasers at the U.N. hate Israel anyway. May as well be hated for something worthwhile.
Israel, Israel, fight like King David fought lest your enemies be a thorn in your eye.
We need more articles like this for those who aren’t anti Semitic but don’t have the words to fight those who are. Middle Eastern history is muddled and complicated. Too many people pull their punches re Hamas . They fail to mention that it’s an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood. That every single leader is Egyptian. That Yasser Arafat was Egyptian. Mohammed Abbas, head of the PA. now, is Palestinian but it doesn’t seem to matter to Palestinians or the press. You’d think it would.
Oh they understand Hamas, they dont care what Hamas is or is not, because they just hate Israel/Jews.
Thank you, Mr Hoffman, for your clarity explaining the issues. I am Yisrael Chai ✡️!
Obviously, this applies not only to Hamas, Hezbollah, the PA, and the Houthis, but also to Iran which gives them all military capabilities, and Qatar, which provides financial support.
This ideology is so entrenched now, it's going to be very hard to uproot it.
how has obscure middle eastern ideology made it into universities?
Why do students support it?
You dont see non students protesting for hamas.
Q. how has obscure middle eastern ideology made it into universities?
A. Qatar.
howd they do that?
it seems like its only at big, fancy schools: not vo-techs, community colleges, or state schools
Even if a state school does not have a dedicated major or minor in Middle East studies, student may participate in study abroad programs or within other majors, depending on the specific school.
Only the educated idiots do.
uneducated dipshits are political too tho.
John Birch society types.
Aryan Nations.
Its not about educated or illiterate: right vs left.
Its something much deeper, that mainstream media will NEVER approach.
Society will NEVER mention the words "duty", or "cowardice".
why?
because those concepts are anathema to mainstream culture.
Countries like Qatar provide financial and other support to universities. Prime example: "Georgetown University has a significant partnership with Qatar, primarily through its Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) campus, which is located in Education City, Doha. This partnership is facilitated by the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit organization established by the Qatari royal family. Georgetown has received substantial financial support from Qatar, including nearly $930 million in gifts and contracts since 2005." (Google AI)
Students live on social media. Much of their information on the Israel-Hamas war came from Tiktok with much graphic misinformation fed to them. Most directly, a nonprofit in the US (AJP Educational Foundation, Inc. a/k/a American Muslims for Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine) collaborated and propagandised for Hamas starting on October 8, on college campuses and Times Square. Nine American and Israeli victims of Hamas's October 7 attack filed a lawsuit against these entities. AMP and NSJP are liable to Plaintiffs for the damages they incurred because AMP and NSJP aid and abet Hamas's terrorism. Plaintiffs are represented by National Jewish Advocacy Center and three law firms. Nonstudents also protested in 2023-2024 off campus, e.g., Golden Gate Bridge blocked and freeway in Oakland, CA in April, 2024.
ewwww
Privileged elites.
I disagree with "top tier" societal stratification in any setting.
Embargo OPEC like they did to us in '70-'74.
The problem with this formulation is that those who see Hamas as a gang rather than a government then see Israel as the defacto government rather than a sovereign nation at war with an enemy that attacked it. Yes Hamas a gang and thoroughly illegitimate. But so was Nazi Germany. Yet the Hitler regime was still the government and sadly so is Hamas. Too many people see Hamas as either a terrorist gang with no authority or responsibility or a resistance group with no authority or responsibility. In actuality it is a nihilistic murder gang dedicated to the murder of every Israeli and Jew in the world and it is also the only governing authority of Gaza.
The west CHOOSES to be played. It's one thing to be sympathetic, but at least put the blame where it belongs, on hamas. They know hamas created this situation, but they choose to blame Israel. No, I don't believe they are truly moved by the images coming out of Gaza, but rather just exploiting it to demonize Israel. It is so transparent. All we have to do is see the lack of coverage or interest in what's happening in Syria, Sudan, Yemen etc.
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
This is where the West gets played. While Hamas oppresses its own people and provokes wars that lead to preventable deaths across the board, it weaponizes Western empathy. It understands that images of suffering children will trigger outrage across Western television screen and social media feeds. So it deliberately manufactures those images — by storing weapons in schools, launching rockets from hospitals, and using civilian neighborhoods as human shields.
It is very simple Hamas seems to render the world not just Israel Judenrein
"It’s a death cult in every sense of the term." Hamas is the modern equivalent of the Thuggee death cult of 1800's British India.
Hamas proclaims that the welfare of the Gazans is not their responsibility. Gazans must depend on NGO's Unrwa, the UN in gereral, the EU and yes America. This morning I hear Trump say that the starvation in Gaza is real and that Israel suspended military action for ten days. So even the US is promoting the big LIE. 40 Plus years of official Jew Hate weeks....and the week encompass the entire academic year....has paid off bigly. I could discern the seeds of this 50 years ago . Including radicalized anti Judaism Jews who were indifferent at best or openly hostile to Israel ....volunteered to cut sugar cane for the proletariat. Viva Cuba! My father was approached by Stalinist Jews to join up in the so called greatest generation. I don't see any reversal of this....not when NYC is about to elect its first billionaire oligarch jihadi gloabalize intifada mayor. with of course a segment to Jewish support...not by only gen Z but my former SDS atheist postJewish baby boomers who HATE Israel still. Howard Jacobson brilliantly satirizes in his The Finkler Question. even on FB a childhood friend from a post Jewish family posts viva palestina! so seeing my FB page then ignored me......after he iniitiated the contact.
great analogy ta our crips/bloods US gangs... Pahrdon the adjective but I'd like ta see this even more "fleshed out" in detail b/c it would become an even more powerful argue-mint an' drive home ta the woketards what they rilly ARE supportin'...violent gang warfare...not some noble "resistance"
So fer eggzample, when a GeeHaw'dist kills a joo an' becomes a martyr...their fam gits a big cash prize... I hear-tell that gang murders are similarly "incentivized".... in fact in some at least one kill or mortal wound'in is required so I hear... Similarities in how gangs/HamAss get their weapons? What about the way gangs hit up locals fer "protection" -- HamAss similar? I think this is too good ta just let pass-- perhaps PHOTOS might also be supportive --such as how both gangs & HamAss "dress" to scare...or share images of them indulgin' in ill-gotten gains (drugs? cash? arms? etc) I think this izza cow worth milkin'! Many cheer-on HamAss but I do bee-lieve few'd cheer on gang violence...
You're right that many people don't understand Hamas. But YOU don't understand that most people are primarily driven by irrational impulses and basic needs, including a strong need to belong to a group (I am not saying tribalism is always a bad thing. I am saying it is real and we all have that need). Appealing to their reason is not going to change their minds.
There is a theory in biology and social science called "costly signaling theory" (I think started by an Israeli academic). The idea is that groups want to minimize "cheaters", i.e. people (or sometimes animals in the case of biology) who want a benefit from belonging to the group, but are too lazy to contribute much to the group.
So many groups developed this strategy where anyone belonging to the group signals their sincerity and earnestness by doing (or believing) something costly that makes no sense except when viewed from this perspective, because most cheaters wouldn't want to do it. For example, Israeli leftists who still believe (after October 7) that Hamas is just a political party are signaling to other leftists worldwide how they are earnest, by believing such an absurd thing. They get lots of love and acceptance from their ingroup. Many religions also ask their adherents to believe and do absurd or difficult things, and the more absurd or difficult, the better for minimizing cheaters.
The WHOLE WORLD does NOT understand the SLIGHTEST THING about "Hamas" ! Otherwise they would refrain from any "demands" to Israel. But even inside Israel there are enough Dummies.
Do you REMEMBER ?: the "international community" had forced the Allies back in 1945 to GET OUT OF GERMANY ! - so that Hitler could retreat and kill himself. If the Allies wouldn´t have done that, then Germany could not have been defeated and the Concentration Camps could not have been freed.
So from these well-known historical facts it is CLEARLY rightful to demand of Israel to get out of "Gaza" before the "Palestine" fascists will declare defeat. I hope that has gotten clear now - that this "logic" will prevail at least as long as the "International Community" continues to have lost total sight of what is right and what is wrong.
If they continue to lose sight, then it´s obviously the only way to kill and let starve every single one in "Gaza", because if they don´t deliver all of Hamas to the world to hang them for all the world - and the crows - to see, if they don´t deliver all hostages unconditionally, no one in the world needs anyone of these shitty "Palestines".