When encountering Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, surveys show an 80%+ likelihood that they are terrorists, supporters, or sympathizers.
By Dr. Avi Perry, INN Jan 3, 2024, 8:06 AM
The international community, encompassing the global media, social media, political figures, and even supporters of Israel, tends to criticize the Jewish state’s defensive war for causing harm and casualties among “innocent” civilians in Gaza, rather than holding Hamas accountable. There is often a disregard for the reality that eliminating Hamas involves unavoidable collateral damage, given their use of civilians, hospitals, schools, private homes, mosques, and other civilian infrastructure for military purposes.
However, there is more. Contrary to the narrative portraying these civilians as innocent victims, a survey by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) among Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and the ‘West Bank’ reveals widespread support for terrorism, rejection of peace, and ingratitude towards supporting countries. “…the results indicate that an overwhelming percentage of Palestinian Arabs support the October 7 massacre (75%), reject coexistence with Israel (85.9%), are committed to the restoration of ‘historical Palestine’ as a final resolution (71.1%), and support the creation of a Palestinian state ‘from the river to the sea’ (74.7%) as the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…”
This challenges the notion of the majority of these civilians being truly innocent. Consequently, when encountering Palestinian Arabs in these regions, there is a significant likelihood—over 80%—that they are either terrorists, active supporters, or sympathizers, contributing to negative perceptions and suspicions.
Regrettably, this majority, exceeding 80%, tarnished the reputation of the remainder. When faced with individuals from these areas, there is a natural inclination to harbor fear, suspicion, and generalizations, as there is a high probability—more than 80%—that these sentiments are accurate. While some may label it as Islamophobia, it differs from antisemitism, which stems from bigotry. Islamophobia is grounded in fear and suspicion, and equating the two is nothing but a display of profound ignorance.
Unfortunately, these characterizations extend to women and children as well. Alarmingly, children are indoctrinated from an early age to dehumanize and harbor hatred and hostility toward Jewish individuals, making them likely to grow into terrorists, terrorist supporters, or sympathizers. They cannot be deemed innocent in this context.
In fact, children were filmed beating with sticks a young hostage who was crying for his mother. Hordes of violent, looting civilians invaded Israel in the wake of the Hamas breach of the border on October 7 and others cheered, spit at and cursed hostages who were paraded through the streets, even violatng dead bodies..Civilians, including a doctor and UNRWA teacher, harbored hostages under inhumane conditions and when hostages were freed under the temporary pause in fighting, lined the streets to jeer at them.
Additionally, Hamas strategically employs the Gazan population as human shields, anticipating that if civilians are harmed, Israel will be blamed by the international community. This tactic, coupled with Israel’s commitment to trying to avoid civilian casualties, creates a challenging situation in dealing with Hamas effectively while attempting to avoid civilian casualties.
But notwithstanding the unintentional killing of Gazan civilians forced on the IDF by the Hamas’ human shield strategy, we can still draw glaring parallels to historical conflicts, such as World War II, where American forces intentionally targeted and killed many thousands of German civilians, as seen in the destruction of cities like Dresden. This strategy aimed to demoralize the enemy and expedite the path to victory. The use of atomic bombs on Japan also targeted civilians and ultimately led to the transformation of both Germany and Japan into allies of the United States.
Despite these actions causing intentional and significant civilian casualties, Presidents Roosevelt and Truman were not viewed as war criminals; instead, they were considered great leaders. The Nazis, along with many Germans and Japanese civilians, were perceived as being brainwashed by propaganda during WWII. Once the U.S. achieved their unconditional surrender, the subsequent baby boom generation enjoyed a period of prosperity.
Eradicating evil comes at a high cost, requiring a choice between bad and worse. In the current context, Israel faces a similar dilemma, and opting for a worse choice that leaves Hamas in power will result in more significant consequences for present and future generations.
Dr. Avi Perry, talk show host at Paltalk News Network (PNN), is the author of “Fundamentals of Voice Quality Engineering in Wireless Networks,”and “72 Virgins,” a thriller about the covert war on Islamic terror. He was a VP at NMS Communications, a Bell Laboratories – distinguished staff member and manager, as well as a delegate of the US and Lucent Technologies to the ITU—the UN International Standards body in Geneva, a professor at Northwestern University and Intelligence expert for the Israeli Government. He may be reached through his web site www.aviperry.org
As Mia Shem said, “They are all terrorists.”