observe-evolve

Since October 7, three distinct narratives have taken hold among pro-Hamas activists, journalists, researchers, academics, social justice hustlers, and a group of “pro-Palestine” slacktivists. The first was a narrative of awe and praise for Hamas’s “resistance” and the tactical surprise of the attack, framed as a triumph despite Israeli restrictions and blockade. It leaned heavily on invoking the 1948 Nakba and repeating the cliché that “this didn’t start on October 7,” an attempt to recast the massacre as a response to decades of displacement rather than a deliberate operation driven by Hamas’s own narrow goals, which have little to do with the Palestinian national interest. A common way to excuse Hamas was to repeat the sanctimonious and politically hollow slogan “we cannot” or “it’s not our job to tell Palestinians how to resist,” as if anything done in the name of Palestinian resistance is automatically virtuous and above criticism. As the euphoria faded and Gaza descended into devastation and mass suffering, a second narrative emerged claiming Israel was committing genocide regardless of Hamas. In this framing, the war was detached from October 7, the hostages, Hamas’s decision to launch the attack, and the group’s conduct. The earlier glorification of “resistance” shifted to a singular focus on Palestinian victimhood under Israeli bombardment, with little willingness to consider actions and reactions, choices and consequences. Hamas received a free pass. There was no pressure to accept a ceasefire at any cost, no criticism of its decision-making, and no demands to release the hostages taken on October 7. Now that the war has largely paused and the ceasefire is holding, but the transitional process is frozen, and the Palestinian cause has seen no political, legal, military, or economic progress despite a surge in global “pro-Palestine” sentiments, a third narrative is forming. More commentators and activists now simply say “Israel created Hamas” to justify genocide and occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. This argument is usually delivered dismissively, placing primary blame on Israel for what Hamas has become. It is not offered as a condemnation of Hamas but as a way to minimize its agency and responsibility and, in familiar fashion within the “pro-Palestine” discourse, to shift accountability elsewhere. These three narratives have served as avoidance mechanisms that block any serious critique of Hamas and its impact on Palestinian life. Instead of confronting what Hamas is and does, the pattern is predictable: celebrate it when it appears to be winning, blame Israel when it is losing, and oversimplify its origins to erase its responsibility for Gaza’s tragedy and for broader Palestinian failures. This is one of the core reasons I wrote Hamas and Its Two Million Hostages. The goal is to strip away the façade and show that agency, accountability, and responsibility, even within a profound power imbalance with Israel, are not only possible but essential for any genuine pro-Palestine advocacy. Today’s “pro-Palestine” discourse is largely incapable of this work. Even many moderates and pro-peace voices avoid the necessary, uncomfortable task of examining Hamas and its destructive consequences for Palestinian society and politics, convinced that the focus must remain solely on Israel.

Shaimaa Rabah is a newly elected councilwoman in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, and a member of Fatah, who was part of a limited set of local municipal elections inside Gaza back in April. After Al Jazeera aired a documentary featuring exclusive footage from Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades about the life of slain military leader Mohammed al-Deif, Shaimaa Rabah shared a Facebook post condemning what she viewed as the glorification of Hamas, which she blamed for Gaza’s devastation. She described the program as “a rich meal of animal feed for the Muslim Brotherhood” and criticized Al Jazeera’s efforts to portray Hamas as heroic despite the destruction and suffering that followed its rule and the 10/7 terror attack. In response, Hamas and its supporters pressured members of Shaimaa Rabah’s clan with a wave of threats and harassment to compel her to delete the post and issue a public apology, which she did. Even that has not satisfied her critics, who are now demanding her resignation from the Deir al-Balah municipal council, arguing that her status as the council’s first elected woman does not entitle her to disparage the memory of those they regard as “martyrs.” This episode is a reminder to those who believe elections can produce meaningful political change while Hamas retains effective control over Gaza. Democracy is not the foundation of a free society but the product of one. It depends on the prior existence of independent civil institutions, a free press, freedom of expression, and mechanisms for holding power accountable. I have shared this concern with Dahlan-affiliated Fatah reformists, EU officials, Arab ministers, and others who advocate elections as a solution to the Palestinian Authority’s legitimacy crisis and the search for an alternative to Hamas. In today’s Gaza, any non-Hamas voice can be rapidly silenced, making meaningful reform, let alone a challenge to the entrenched “resistance” narrative, nearly impossible. Before any credible democratic process can take place, Hamas’s system of control must be dismantled. Until then, the most realistic path forward is a transitional administration focused on restoring basic services and rebuilding a truly free civil society while removing the coercive structures Hamas and its patrons have spent decades creating.

At a recent event where I spoke at a community center, a group of “pro-Palestine” militiamen appeared outside to protest and disrupt the event, along with agitated older white women who entered the venue to do the same on the inside. The organizers and I had arranged extensive security because these same “activists” had spent days trying to get the event canceled and openly vowed to do whatever they could to stop it from happening. As I walked in, a few masked “activists” in keffiyehs whispered, "is this the genocide guy?" I turned to them and said, "hi gentlemen, thanks for coming." One replied, "Free Palestine." I responded, "I agree, including from Hamas." Once I began speaking, several disruptors engaged in a steady stream of whispering, side conversations, eye-rolling, posturing, and juvenile antics. I stopped and asked one of the women why she and her comrades were behaving like children. She admitted she knew nothing about me or my work but felt qualified to declare that if I were truly Palestinian, my Nakba-surviving grandparents would be rolling in their graves. I asked the agitators to be respectful, explaining that while security could remove them, I would rather they listen to what I actually had to say, instead of relying on misinformation spread about me by the local DSA, BDS, and other "pro-Palestine" groups. What enraged me most was their reaction when I spoke about my family in Gaza, the relatives we have lost to Israeli airstrikes during the post-October 7 war, and the destruction of both my childhood homes. These white “activists” laughed and smirked as I described some of the most painful experiences of my life and the sense of personal loss that inspires my work. They showed shocking indifference toward the very Palestinians on whose behalf they claim to be acting. I confronted some of the disruptors directly and asked why they get to define what it means to be "pro-Palestine," despite knowing nothing about me and showing no interest in the trauma my family has endured. Some stormed out shouting "Free Palestine." Others fell silent. One person, despite strongly disagreeing with me, acknowledged that my views were rooted in personal loss and genuine concern for my people and shook my hand before leaving. On my way out, a pseudo-journalist known for glorifying Hamas and "the resistance" tried to ambush me with questions about whether I was paid by weapons manufacturers, oil companies, or, as he brilliantly misstated it, the "Arab Union Emirates." It struck me how absurd it is that I needed three heavily armed security officers and a bodyguard simply to speak about healing and reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis, the dangers of extremism for both societies, the catastrophic damage Hamas has inflicted on the Palestinian national project, and the right of Palestinians to freedom, safety, and prosperity alongside a secure Israel.

Watch: The Riyadh airport terror massacre in Saudi Arabia, committed by the treacherous and murderous slave-owning, child-soldier-recruiting, pedophilia-normalizing, Ayatollah-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels, is a new chapter in this group’s crimes against Arab and Muslim peoples of the Middle East. The missile strike against the King Khalid International Airport claimed the lives of over 12 innocent people and injured more than 300 from dozens of nationalities. One of those killed was a Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip, Talal Al-Dani, and many of the casualties were pilgrims headed to Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. This massacre was carried out by the same Houthis whose slogan includes “curse upon the Jews” and who launched hundreds of projectiles and missiles toward Israel to supposedly “support” the people of Gaza. These are the same Houthis that low-information “pro-Palestine” activists in the Western world have been chanting for, demanding that the group maintain its acts of piracy and aggression against international shipping in the Red Sea to “help Gaza.” Remember the embarrassing slogan: “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around”? When I spoke time and again against this despicable group, I was viciously attacked for decrying the only entity that was supposedly “standing up for the Palestinian people.” Putting aside the complex geopolitics of the Middle East, it doesn’t take rocket science to register the depravity and grave disregard for human decency by the sectarian and violent Houthi or “Ansar Allah” rebels. The embarrassing anti-Israel movement would do well to immediately shift course and stop championing and supporting murderous pedophiles just because this group hates Israel and Jews.

Watch – Hamas’s “Friendly Fire”: rockets falling back into Gaza? Hamas’s rockets are a black box in the discourse. Over 4,000 were fired at Israel on October 7, and in the months that followed, not to mention thousands over the previous two decades of Hamas’s control of the Territory. Yet you almost never hear about the rockets’ failure rate or the Palestinians they inevitably hit. These are unguided, locally made artillery rockets: crude, inconsistent, produced without standards, and often assembled in workshops that barely qualify as factories. Even the United States and the Soviet Union, with billions of dollars, elite scientists, and world‑class facilities, saw constant rocket failures throughout the Cold War. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin still lose rocket vehicles despite unmatched engineering talent, hardware, and resources. Needless to say, of course Hamas’s tens of thousands of rockets had numerous failures (estimated at 15-20%) and fell onto Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during such flops. So what do people think happens when Hamas stores and launches these rockets from and near densely populated civilian neighborhoods, markets, schools, clinics, farms, roads, and refugee camps? Over twenty years, how many rockets fell short, misfired, or detonated inside Gaza? How many Palestinians were killed by Hamas’s own fire (or to a lesser extent, that of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ), only for the casualties to be publicly attributed to Israel? Hamas’s celebrated “resistance,” endlessly touted in many academic, journalistic, activist, and political circles, keeps escaping even the most basic scrutiny – despite how brutally it has damaged every dimension of Palestinians’ lives: their safety, aspirations, political space, and collective well‑being. ***In the video, you see a rocket clearly falling back into a residential neighborhood in Gaza, as hundreds did on October 7, and right as it falls, you see another rocket being fired nearby. This pattern played out thousands of times over the past two decades, yet almost no media, academic, or NGO entities has ever mounted a serious investigation.

Pro-Hamas Jihadi terrorists in New York City disrupted a peaceful vigil that was supposed to be about common empathy, humanity, peace, and solidarity to commemorate October 7 and all lives lost to chant for Hamas, Intifada, chaos, and war, while displaying images of their icon & hero, Yahya Sinwar. These modern day brownshirts can't stand the sight of Jews or Israelis, no matter how conciliatory or declaratively anti-Zionist, having any space to express grief or exist in public spaces. لعن الله كل من أيد ودعم ووالا وتضامن مع حماس وقادتها ويحيى السنوار وكل من بارك طوفان الخراب والدمار، أكبر مؤامرة إخوانية حمساوية إرهابية ظلامية ضد الشعب الفلسطيني ووجوده في غزة.