Extraterrestrial aliens combing through the wreckage of our civilization will no doubt wonder how a species so unfathomably stupid could have achieved the mastery of fire and wheels, much less digital technology and quantum physics. Case in point: the massive protests in Israel this past week that brought the country to a temporary halt, during which the Labor-backed protesters blamed their own government for the murder by Hamas of six hostages.
According to Israel's largest labor union, Histadrut, over half a million people took to Israeli streets on Monday to blame Prime Minister Netanyahu for not making enough concessions to the Islamofascists hellbent on their extermination. Specifically, Netanyahu is refusing to surrender the Philadelphi Corridor for any concession whatsoever. And he is right to do so. Without the Philadelphi Corridor, it would be nearly impossible for Hamas to rearm to its pre-Oct. 7 capabilities.
It would be like if we gave up Bagram Air Base. Oh, wait...
There are two possible explanations for the Israeli protests. The "cynical" explanation is that Labor knows full well that Netanyahu cannot allow Hamas to recover, even if it means the release of the remaining hostages, and that these protests are simply a crude way of weakening him on the domestic front. They're willing to sacrifice wartime unity for political advantage. Think the Democrats in 2004.
The "deluded" explanation is that these Israeli protesters sincerely believe that their nation is the aggressor, at least in part, and that a two-state solution with genocidal maniacs is not only possible but desirable. They think it's their own government, not Hamas, that is negotiating in bad faith. Again, think the Democrats after 9/11, where we were lectured that we "need to understand" the terrorists' point of view and how we "need to have the conversation" about how our past actions allegedly triggered their anger.
On cue, Jon Goldberg-Polin, the father of murdered American-Israeli hostage Hersh, honoring his son at the funeral, stated, "[Hersh] would have pushed harder for justice. [Hersh] would have worked to understand the other, to bridge differences."
You mean like he was doing at the Nova music festival for love and peace on October 7?
Understanding "the other" isn't the issue. The terrorists understand us perfectly. Sociopaths excel at finding their opponents' weaknesses and exploiting them. They understand our default appeasement in the guise of yearning for peace. And by "peace" they mean, "Do whatever you want to others. We'll grant your every demand, but please just leave us alone." That's what Chamberlain meant and what the current Israeli protesters mean. Peace in our time. For us. Damn everyone else.
And for any Westerners actually trying, it's not difficult to understand why Islamic terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, Hamas, ISIS, Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, Boko Haram, Muslim Brotherhood, Abu Sayyaf, the Taliban, Jemaah Islamiyah, Jaish-e-Mohammed, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Iranian government, and so many others want us dead. Hint: it's not about oil. It's not about a strip of desert in the Levant. It's not about Danish cartoons. It's because the goal of Islam is world domination, and as long as there are infidels who roam free to dress, worship, and think as they please, there's gonna be a problem. That's quite literally all it is.
Too many American Jews pretend not to understand this. Leftists openly celebrate this. But Israeli Jews should know better. There is only one "deal" that Hamas will honor with you. Line up to be their willing kapos guards, and they will kill you last. Every deal between now and then is simply a tactical stepping stone to that inevitability.
American-Israeli Jonathan Dekel-Chen, parent of a current hostage, likewise blames the Israeli government for the impasse. To his credit, at least Dekel-Chen has the sense to recognize Hamas as a "savage terrorist organization" rather than doe-eyed partners for peace just asking for a little cultural bridge building. But Dekel-Chen implores the Israeli government to reach a "negotiated agreement with Satan," meaning Hamas, in order to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Yeah, well, that's the thing about Satan. You fight him. You don't cut Faustian deals with him. Because the "deal" is always on his terms. And he'll come out ahead. Every time.
Please do not misunderstand my intention here, which is not to criticize the parents whose children are current hostages or whose children have already been murdered. These parents' statements aren't supposed to be rational. They're driven by a very understandable desire to get their children home, alive and safe. I can't imagine the pain they're suffering, and if I were in their shoes, I'd be saying the same things. But this drive is grounded purely on desperate, panicked emotion and as such, cannot dictate sound antiterrorism policy. The protesters should be clear-headed enough to understand this.
The Biden/Kamala/Pelosi/Whoever administration doesn't care about the Jewish hostages. They care about winning in November, and they need the jihad vote in Michigan to do so. And to the extent that the Israeli protesters care about Jewish hostages, it apparently doesn't supersede their desire to hurt their democratically elected fellow countrymen. Nor does it tarnish their chimerical fantasy of Israel returning to a pre-10/7 world. That world is gone, and they need to adjust to the new reality on the ground.
America can suffer its fools with less immediate consequence than can Israel. America is so expansive that our leftists can continue to peddle self-destructive policies that lay waste to entire cities that decimate world-class militaries, deteriorate entire school systems, and neuter entire generations of impressionable Tide Pod eaters without ever having to suffer the consequences of their narcissistic actions.
And if American leftists ever do start to feel uncomfortable with the increasing taxes and rising crime, they can do what they've always done. They'll move to a safe, prosperous red state and continue to vote exactly the same way, having learned absolutely nothing. Eventually, they'll run out of red states to move to, but they figure by then, they'll be long gone, and someone else's kids will pick up the tab.
Israeli leftists don't have the luxury of simply moving further inland when the "deals" they support with terrorists inevitably result in ever-deeper incursions by the latter, whether by missile, drone, or paraglider. And it shouldn't require an American Christian like me to advocate more strongly than Israeli Jews to resist accommodation with those trying to exterminate you. Yet, here we are.
But hey, far be it from me to waste my breath if you already know better. I live in a decrepit blue state with blue state taxes, blue state schools, and blue state crime, so I am CHOCK FULL of subjects to write about without needing to vent my ire on, in the paraphrased words of Edward Norton in Fight Club, you proverbial pandas who won't procreate to save your own species.
But the cold, horrible reality is that as much of a priority as securing the release of the remaining hostages is, it cannot take precedence over the eradication of Hamas and the future security of Israel. Any "deal" that saves 100 lives now in return for a million murders later is suicidal folly. The Allied forces didn't surrender the war against Hitler when they received word that SS guards were killing the remaining camp Jews to prevent their rescue. Nor should Netanyahu surrender now, for the same reason.
The Israeli protesters, whether acting out of political calculation or unabashed naivete, should thank Nehanyatu for holding the line against Hamas. He's facing the hard choices so that they can continue evading them. The quicker he defeats Hamas, the quicker the protesters can bury their heads in the sand at the next peace festival.
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