Even many of those who follow events in the Middle East may have missed the fact that a demonstration against Hamas took place in Gaza at the end of March. Several hundred people protested against a militant group that has taken them hostage and has no regard for them. Indeed, Hamas leaders themselves have repeatedly said in public that the more Palestinians die, the better.
A few days later, some Hamas fighters came out of nowhere, kidnapped the main organiser of the demonstration, tortured him for several hours and dumped his mutilated body in front of his house. Five other activists were then executed in a similar manner. Dozens of protesters were brutally beaten.
The Israeli army, which is not afraid of a mouse in the area, did not do a thing to protect them. No one in the West has even begun to consider the possibility of cutting off further financial support to Hamas. None of the thousands of Western student activists for a ‘Palestine free from the river to the sea’ care to mention these martyred Palestinians. Why waste time on them if it doesn’t give them an excuse to bomb Jewish shops, right?
A few days ago we discussed “altruism without empathy”. You do wonderful humanitarian work because you enjoy it, but you don’t care about the people. Here’s another example.
But it has practical implications. If the Israelis or anyone else does not support reasonable Palestinians, they will be faced with communities controlled by fanatics.
