Ruairi

I find myself deeply puzzled by a certain Western phenomenon: the climate activists, human rights advocates, and self-proclaimed progressives who somehow end up echoing Hamas talking points. What drives that contradiction? How do people who fight to “save the planet” from harm find moral comfort supporting a movement that glorifies violence, suppresses women, persecutes minorities, and burns its own children’s future? Let’s look beyond politics and explore the mental model behind it. 1. The Need for a Simple “Good vs. Evil” Story These activists often think in binary moral categories: victim vs. oppressor, colonized vs. colonizer. It simplifies a chaotic world into a clear moral map, a comforting illusion of “knowing who the bad guys are.” In that story, Palestinians automatically play the victim role, and therefore Hamas becomes “the resistance,” not a tyrannical regime. They don’t need facts, they need moral clarity, even if it’s false. 2. Projection of Guilt and Desire for Redemption Western societies carry deep historical guilt: colonialism, racism, environmental destruction. Supporting a cause that appears “anti-imperialist” becomes a psychological cleansing ritual. They see themselves as allies of the oppressed, but in truth they’re not helping us - they’re washing their own conscience. 3. The Attraction to Emotional Intensity Movements like Hamas weaponize emotion: pain, rage, sacrifice, “resistance.” For young activists raised in digital comfort, this intensity feels authentic. They crave moral struggle the way others crave adventure. They mistake destruction for depth. 4. Moral Narcissism It’s not about the truth, it’s about feeling virtuous. Many Western activists are driven less by compassion and more by the need to be seen as compassionate. The Palestinian cause becomes a theater stage for their self-image - they cry for Gaza online, but never once ask how Hamas treats Palestinians inside Gaza. 5. Cognitive Dissonance and Selective Empathy To maintain their worldview, they must filter reality, ignore Hamas executing dissenters, silencing women, stealing aid, or building tunnels under schools. They can’t hold both truths at once: that Palestinians suffer and that Hamas is their main tormentor. So they delete one truth to keep the comfort of moral simplicity. 6. The Cult of “Resistance” Climate activism teaches “act now or we all die.” Hamas propaganda echoes that emotional urgency: “resist or be erased.” It taps into the same psychological fuel: panic, purpose, identity. Except one fights to preserve life; the other glorifies death. When I see these activists marching with slogans that defend Hamas, I don’t see solidarity, I see psychological confusion dressed as morality. They don’t understand our reality. They project their fantasies of rebellion onto our tragedy, and in doing so, they become useful tools for the very forces that keep us oppressed. If they truly cared about Palestinians, they would stand with those of us who reject Hamas, reject the cult of death, and dream of a future built - not burned.