Abu Daoud, the man who planned the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes, expressed pride in the act as a “strategic success” and called it a “strategic success” because it forced his cause into the homes of 500 million people. However, decades after this success, the Palestinian “cause” seems to have gone nowhere. The West often uses phrases like “a people fighting for its freedom,” “given the years of occupation,” or “in a desire to end the blockade” to justify the latest Palestinian attack against Israel.
This is a projection of a Western mind, and the Palestinian “cause” has never been about any of these goals. Hamas’ followers have made it clear for over a century that their “cause” was always the prevention and destruction of a Jewish state in any part of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Had Palestinian leaders sought only an independent state in part of the land, ended Israel’s military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, improved living conditions in Gaza, or pursued the rational goals the West projected on them, they would have achieved them a long time ago. The Palestinians could have celebrated 75 years of independence next to the Jewish state of Israel.
The Palestinian cause has always been to ensure that Jews have no state in any part of the land. This Western tendency, known as “westplaining,” seeks to explain away Palestinians’ statements to avoid dealing with the consequences. This inversion of cause and effect is evident in the translation of the chant “Itbah al-Yahud” into “resist Israelis” and the BBC scripts translating a Palestinian saying “Yahud” as Israelis.
Israel’s extended military presence in the West Bank is seen as the cause of Palestinian violence, rather than the outcome of an ideology that refuses any agreement that would end Israel’s military presence if it means accepting the legitimacy and permanence of free Jews living in their own state in the remaining part of the land. The maritime partial blockade of Gaza is seen as the cause of Palestinian violence. This desire to look away, appease, and rationalize away such an annihilationist cause is similar to the desire to rationalize Nazism, as seen in Tim Bouverie’s book Appeasing Hitler.
After Great Britain ended appeasement and elected a wartime leader who saw Nazism as a threat, Britain fought tirelessly, imposing total defeat, unconditional surrender, occupation, de-Nazification, and re-education on Germany. Germany emerged as a peaceful pillar of Europe and the international community. Today, only those who deny the largest and most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust will look away from the October 7 massacre. Many Palestinians, when given the chance, intend to carry out “Itbah al-Yahud” – the slaughter of the Jews. It is time to end appeasement and reckon with the Palestinian cause for over a century. The only way to emerge from this hellscape is to complete its defeat and reprogram its ethos towards construction. This will help create a more prosperous life for Palestinians.
