CLAIM: Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7 2023 simply because they are terrorists that want to destroy Israel and kill all Jews.
RATING:
Mostly false
The simple-minded explanation that Hamas militants are simply “terrorists” that just want to “kill all Jews” is deeply unsatisfactory.
Harvard researcher Sara Roy—herself a Jew—spent years in Gaza and the West Bank, interviewing many Hamas leaders, and was never threatened in any way. The worst thing that happened was being admonished by the more religious Muslims when she did not wear a hijab to cover her hair. Source: Hamas and Civil Society: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector (2011) by Sara Roy.
To understand why there is hatred in Gaza towards Israel requires understanding that most Gazans (or their ancestors) were forcefully expelled from their homes in 1948 when the Jewish militias ethnically cleansed much of Palestine with their tanks, machine guns, warplanes, warships, mortars, and bulldozers, then destroyed many of the villages and barred Palestinians from returning. Since then, Israel has systematically oppressed Palestinian Arabs with various means, such as by limiting their movement with walls and checkpoints, hard to obtain travel permits, and by destroying their airport and seaport. It has withheld tax revenues owed to them, and placed increasingly severe limits on imports and exports, thus making it hard for Palestinians to do business and make money. It has destroyed their orchards and agricultural fields. It has diverted water from the underground freshwater acquirer feeding Gaza, a major reason why much of Gaza’s drinking water is now contaminated. It has severely punished any political activity—including peaceful protests—and shot at anyone coming within 500m to 1000m of the perimeter wall.
It should therefore be of no surprise that Palestinians harbour a deep sense of injustice and anger towards those who have oppressed them in such a thorough and enduring manner, while ignoring or suppressing them when they dare to protest.
Any explanation of October 7th that overlooks these background facts is going to be fundamentally lacking.
As the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said in 2018, "Let's be clear: having an armed resistance is our right, under international law. […] But the problem is not our resistance, it is their occupation [of the West Bank and Gaza]. With no occupation, we wouldn't have rockets. We wouldn't have stones, Molotov cocktails, nothing. We would all have a normal life."
One reply on “Israel-Palestine Mega Fact Check!”
Keep trying to invent history. The palis didn’t exist until the mid 1960s.
One other fun fact – every group, every political organization, and every government that has ever tried to destroy the Jews has been destroyed. Fun fact #2 Israel has never been stronger.