A MAJOR DISCLAIMER
As of the writing of this post, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health claims that over 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. These figures cannot be independently verified, and per Israel, at least 7000 of those killed are members of Hamas or other terrorist groups. Hamas does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties and also does not distinguish between deaths caused by Israeli air strikes and deaths caused by misfired Palestinian missiles. In past wars, around 20 percent of Palestinian missiles misfired and landed within the Gaza Strip, killing Palestinian civilians.
If the Israeli numbers are accurate, this means 11,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed since the start of the war. 11,000 innocent deaths is too much. 1000 innocent deaths is too much. 500 innocent deaths is too much. In fact, even one innocent death is too much. War is disastrous, devastating, and heartbreaking.
But acknowledging this heartbreak should not give us free reign to disregard history and facts. Acknowledging this heartbreak should not give us free reign to ignore, deny, distort, or justify the October 7 massacre that started this war. Acknowledging this heartbreak should not give us free reign to parrot the propaganda and talking points of an antisemitic, openly genocidal terrorist organization. See, it is textbook terrorist propaganda to extort the emotions of well-meaning observers.
None of this is conjecture. We know, for a fact, that Hamas appeals to a western audience by exploiting the deaths of their own population. We know this because they’ve said so themselves. We also know that there is historical precedent for this, a glaring example being Nazi Germany.
"Hamas may have a budget deficit, so they start a war so Qatar will get involved and send them money."
whistleblower in Whispered in Gaza interview series (raw footage verified by Al Arabiya, Arab News, and Times of Israel)
"The so-called resistance has become a business…[Hamas] made a profit out of it, and only the people suffered…Whenever there's a war, and when [Hamas] get more aid money, they're the ones who benefit, and we get nothing."
whistleblower in Whispered in Gaza interview series (raw footage verified by Al Arabiya, Arab News, and Times of Israel)
"We love death like our enemies love life."
Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas political bureau
"We will do [October 7] twice and three times…Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs."
Ghazi Hamad, senior Hamas official
HISTORICAL PRECEDENT
Note: nothing in this slide is a justification for the carpet bombing of Dresden. It was a war crime. I am merely illustrating how genocidal groups exploit the suffering of their people to garner support.
Between February 13 and February 15 of 1945, the United States and the United Kingdom jointly carpet bombed the German city of Dresden, killing up to 25,000 people, predominantly civilians.
The Allies argued that Dresden was a valid military target, specifically as it was a major transport and communications center. Critics of the bombings claim that Dresden was a cultural landmark and had little strategic military significance, and that many of the military targets were actually not bombed. Since World War II, the legality of the Dresden bombings has garnered fierce debate, with many critics alleging that it was a war crime.
In the immediate aftermath of the Dresden bombings, the German Propaganda Ministry was instructed to astronomically inflate the casualty figures to 200,000, instead of the generally accepted death toll, which is 25,000. This was done with the explicit intent of garnering sympathy and drawing a moral equivalence between Nazi war crimes and Allied actions.
The Nazis inflated that figure with zero regard for reality. In fact, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels blatantly decided to just add an extra zero to the real death toll. Goebbels later published a lengthy article decrying the suffering and cultural destruction while making no mention of the Nazi war effort.
EITHER HAMAS IS DUPING YOU OR YOU DON'T REALLY CARE IF HAMAS COMMITS A GENOCIDE
Hamas has recently praised the recent United Nations General Assembly (non-legally binding) resolution for a ceasefire and the return of the hostages, with its top leader Ismail Haniyeh stating: “We express our appreciation for the position of the UN Secretary-General. We welcome the UN decision last night.”
But if you look deeper, they tell a very different story.
On November 1, senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad stated: “We will do [October 7] twice and three times. The Al-Aqsa Deluge [the name Hamas gave its October 7 onslaught] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth. Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.”
Read that again: they know that repeating the massacre of October 7 will result in the deaths of innocent Palestinians, but not only do they not care, but they are proud of it.
On November 30, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and architect behind the October 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar, stated the following: “October 7 was just a rehearsal.”
Sometimes, however, the mask slips in English, as well. On November 8, top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told The New York Times that the purpose of the October 7 massacre was to “create a permanent state of war.”
WHY DOES HAMAS DO THIS?
For money.
Hamas leaders alone come up to a total of about 11 billion dollars.
Per Forbes, as of 2014, Hamas was the second richest terrorist organization in the world, with about a billion dollar turnover. As of 2017, Forbes designated Hamas the third richest terrorist organization in the world.
The second in command at Hamas, Dr. Musa Abu Marzook, is worth between 2-3 billion dollars, according to Arab outlets. Khaled Mashaal, the former chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, is worth between 2-5 billion. Even the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, is worth at least 4 billion. They and their families live in mansions in Qatar and Turkey while their people suffer.
How did these leaders amass this fortune? From your well-intentioned donations, of course. Both Israel and the United Nations have caught Hamas workers diverting humanitarian aid to give to their leaders multiple times over the years.
A few months ago, an Israeli documentary television series went undercover and exposed Amin Abou Rashed, who ran a huge Palestinian “humanitarian” charity in the Netherlands, receiving about 2 million Euros a year in donations. It turned out that Rashed was funneling the money directly to Hamas leaders. After the Israeli channel submitted the evidence to the Dutch authorities, Rashed was arrested.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
(1) there is absolutely zero doubt that the civilian population in Gaza is suffering. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. While Israel’s primary responsibility is to its own citizens, it must abide by international law at all times and do — and continue to do — everything it possibly can, within reason, to lessen the toll on civilians and alleviate the humanitarian situation.
(2) Hamas is manipulating you. Because you, unlike Hamas, are probably a good person who does not want innocent people to suffer, it’s only natural for you to want the bloodshed to stop. I do too! But there is no actual end to the bloodshed while Hamas remains in power. Hamas has said so themselves, repeatedly. Mobilizing for a ceasefire — a bandaid on a broken bone — serves the interests of Hamas only. They will regroup, rearm, and, to quote them directly, carry out the October 7 massacre “a second, a third, a fourth” time.
(3) because Hamas is emotionally extorting its western audience, they have a vested interest in inflating the death toll, just as Goebbels did. As a reminder, none of these figures can be independently verified. There are plenty of inconsistencies in the Hamas numbers.
Per Hamas’s own figures, most days, Israeli air strikes only killed women and children. It’s estimated that Hamas has some 20,000-40,000 fighters in Gaza, but according to Hamas, virtually none have been killed. It generally takes various weeks to identify bodies after a disaster. Gaza in the midst of a humanitarian catastrophe and is a disaster zone, lacking in electricity, internet, and other basic resources. How is it that Hamas is capable of immediately identifying the exact number of deaths by name, gender, and even ID number even while Gaza is a disaster zone?
Israel has struck some 22,000 targets in Gaza as of the writing of this post. Even by Hamas’s own numbers, this amounts to an average of less than one death per bombing. Using the evocative language that Hamas wants you to use — i.e. genocide — is not only inaccurate, but serves Hamas’s manipulation and propaganda only.
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