The Tragically Moronic Strategy of Hamas
"We reap what we sow. Because Hamas has never been able to envision a coexistence with Israelis — Jews — they have done grave damage to their home, and are inches away from inviting a whole lot more."
By Michael Golden
The ASU student who was flashing images on his computer of dead Palestinians was sitting in the front row, just a few feet from where I was addressing the class. He had curly, ruffled red hair and an angry scowl on his face. I actually noticed him giving me the stink-eye on my way into the room. Now I knew why.
This happened a week after the 2024 election. A friend who teaches the Junior Fellows program at ASU’s School of Politics and Global Studies asked me to come and talk about the campaign and what Donald Trump’s victory might portend for the future. But this young man had showed up with a different agenda. He said that he had read my articles and accused me of being “very vocal in the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestine.”
Anyone who knows me, including my professor friend, knows that I will never shy away from engaging in a debate on this subject — if challenged. What followed was a lecture. I mean, I lectured this kid. I explained up front that I value civil discussions, and apart from his photo-show-and-tell, we would have one. But at a certain point along the 15-minute exchange, I gingerly pointed out the folly of his one-sided accusation and slide-gimmick:
“So you have to know some history. I appreciate your passion, but when someone assaults you and kills 1,200 of your people, and then they take another 200 of your people? I could pull out my phone and show you the awful things that Hamas did to them. So what you’re doing is a bit of a stunt. It doesn’t get your argument further down the road.”
The reason I’m citing my own quote from this discussion is not because there was any winner in the exchange. In fact, he left the room after his classmates had had enough. They wanted to talk about the election. And we did.
I was actually more saddened than perturbed by Red’s slideshow and obtuse assertions — because I believe that he was sincere in the stand he was taking. And I explained to him that there are a ton of Jews and Israelis who have always wanted a better life for Palestinians. But it takes two to dance. And the saddest part is that the Palestinians are eternally caught up in the vicious cycle of Hamas.
I have posed the following question to many people ever since the start of the war:
If you are a Palestinian or someone protesting on their behalf, how do you think there can ever be a peace in Israel if Gaza is under the autocratic control of a terrorist group who wants nothing less than the elimination of all Jews?
When I write that question, in a column like this one, I include a link to the Hamas original charter. I also include a link to an interview conduced 17 days after the Oct. 7 attack, where Hamas senior official Ghazi Hamad said:
“The Hamas terrorist attack was just the first. There will be a second, third and fourth attack on Israel.”
No one has been able to answer my question yet — and that’s when it’s game over. You cannot negotiate with any party that refuses to negotiate. It’s pretty basic math. And sadly, the extremists in control of the Palestinians have never wanted to live side by side. Even President Clinton recently explained that the one time they got close during the Oslo Accords, Yasser Arafat cynically folded at the last minute. A tragic mistake.
And now, that same vicious cycle that Hamas keeps spinning itself up in has once again landed it in more hot water. The terrorist group re-infuriated Israelis and Jews the world over when they released three hostages last weekend whose physical appearance brought back horrific memories of the Holocaust.
It also seemed to anger the new American president. Donald Trump said on Monday that if Hamas doesn’t release all the hostages by this Saturday at noon: “All bets are off and let hell break out.”
The President’s statement was interpreted as a green light to the Israeli Government. A day later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this in an official statement:
“The decision that I passed unanimously in the cabinet is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday afternoon — the ceasefire will be terminated, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.”
It is not clear whether Netanyahu means the three hostages that are due to be returned Saturday under the terms of the ceasefire deal, or Trump’s reference to “all” of them. We don’t know. And we’re just going to have to see.
But one thing remains true: We reap what we sow. Because Hamas has never been able to even envision a coexistence with their neighboring Israelis, they have done grave damage to their home, and are inches away from inviting a whole lot more.
MICHAEL GOLDEN is the Editor-In-Chief of JEWDICIOUS and creator of The Golden Mean.
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Wonderful essay, but I’m so tired of people not understanding that Hamas is a terrorist organization bent on the destruction of Jews and the Jewish state. We should not have to apologize for the hell they unleashed on everyone, including their own people.
Peace was never the point for Hamas. They got what they wanted. Death. Destruction. and Delegitimization of the nation of Israel. That student showing off dead bodies is the "win" for them. He did not need to argue further.