Palestinian women react at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip December 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

As a doctor who spent a lifetime of work in epidemiology and environmental medicine, I have extensive experience thinking about how external factors drive public health outcomes — preventable disease and premature death.

I have studied the negative public health impacts of asbestos, pesticides, unsafe driving, cigarettes, and more — and made recommendations aimed at reducing these dangers.

Much of this work occurred in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. That experience has much to say about the catastrophe we have witnessed in Israel and Gaza, and which we risk reoccurring, if we do not address the intergenerational indoctrination and incitement in the Palestinian world.

As an environmental epidemiologist with significant work studying genocide and incitement, I see indoctrination in genocidal ideology as a form of hazardous exposure with toxic effects on all age groups — but with specifically dangerous impacts on the young. Exposure to such indoctrination and incitement can be likened to frequent or prolonged exposures to toxins such as lead, asbestos, and tobacco smoke. The impacts are both immediate and long-lasting. We should act accordingly.

October 7th

It’s critical that we see the Hamas massacres on October 7th and the resulting war in Gaza not just as a geostrategic milestone, but also as an incident in environmental medicine with impacts on both Israeli and Palestinian lives.

The barbaric attacks on Israel were systematic. For one day, Hamas waged total war — raping, murdering, and kidnapping — and setting out to make Israel’s Gaza envelope communities uninhabitable, which many still are, more than a year later.

Israel has responded by defending itself and seeking to defeat Hamas militarily. Because Hamas has placed itself within and often underneath the civilian population, this has required a brutal and grinding kind of warfare, combined with internal displacement of Gaza’s population, especially in its north.

For Gaza, this has been an epidemiological catastrophe. Whatever Gaza once was, it no longer is.

While some in the public health and humanitarian community blame Israel for this destruction, that would be a mistake.

The predicate for all of the public health losses was the ideology that made Israel’s military action inevitable.

Poisoned Minds, Not Poisoned Wells

In a disease model, we must look for the risks and causes of the disease, not merely the symptoms, if we are to heal the patient. The same is true in epidemiology: We must identify the content and effect of toxic exposure in a community. The legendary epidemiologic discovery came in 1854, when John Snow deduced that a cholera epidemic in London could be linked to a single water pump on Broad Street.

In this case, we are not looking for a contaminated well. We are looking for contaminated minds — the contaminant is the ideology of Hamas.

Hamas and its enablers have indoctrinated all Gazans in this ideology, from cradle to grave. Many of the thousands who came across the border to murder, rape, and loot on October 7 were not only uniformed and trained Hamas terrorists, but ordinary Gazans who joined in on the genocidal massacre.

They were motivated to commit murder and rape by what they were taught at home, at school, at mosques, in the streets, and on social media. If they had no formal training to kill, they didn’t need any.

It is rare that a society becomes so sick to the core that mass murder becomes a socially acceptable norm. Hamas terrorists bragged to their parents. They were greeted as conquering heroes and were eligible for large cash awards and free apartments. This is a culture in which genocidal massacre is celebrated.

Critics of Israel’s offensive into Gaza say it will only create more supporters for Hamas. That is absurd. Gaza already is dominated by intergenerational indoctrination of an extreme version of jihadist Islam.

It is critical that we recall Gregory Stanton’s seminal “Ten Stages of Genocide,” which speaks to this issue specifically. Genocide follows a distinct pattern, from classification of the enemy to symbolization of the enemy, to discrimination, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, persecution, extermination, and finally, denial.

Just as Palestinian society has been shaped by genocidal motifs of demonization, delegitimization, and glorification of terror, it is also not destined to serve the cause of genocide. This was not inevitable. There are many traditional and religious societies in the Arab world similar to Palestinian Arabs which do not engage in any of the kind of genocidal or pre-genocidal steps of Hamas.

More than Hamas

If the problem is man-made, then the solution will be man-made. First, let us dispense with the fiction that destroying Hamas’ hardware, its fortifications above ground, and its tunnels underground is sufficient.

If Israel exits Gaza only having killed Hamas operatives and destroying Hamas infrastructure, it will have achieved very little of lasting value. It must take on the hard work of removing genocide indoctrination and incitement.

Like any epidemiological matter of any consequence, this will take many years.

Many public health epidemics and mass exposures in the past such as typhoid, cholera, exposure to asbestos, and lead took many years to prevent or control, and required a generational commitment of the entire medical and policymaker community.

De-Nazification as a model

There is, however, a model for this process, and it comes from America and its allies as they sought to de-Nazify Germany and pacify Japan after World War II. These efforts were comprehensive and driven by military dominance.

In Germany, the process included the Nuremberg trials, which did much to expose the world — and Germany — to the horrors of the Nazi genocide program. But it wasn’t enough.

The process was not perfect. Many former Nazis avoided punishment; some innocent Germans were unfairly accused. The Allied forces confiscated all media — including school textbooks — that would contribute to Nazism or militarism. Art extolling Nazism was similarly banned and shunted aside. This was not a libertarian exercise.

But it succeeded. Germany had, at that point, emerged from roughly a century of bellicose militarism and deep antisemitism. It had started two world wars and carried out an industrial-scale program of genocide. Few believed it could ever be anything but a source of human misery in the heart of Europe.

The Germany of today — peaceful, global, and prosperous — would have seemed to be a mirage. In fact, General Dwight Eisenhower, Allied commander in Europe, predicted the de-Nazification of Germany would take 50 years.

In Japan, too, the efforts were monumental. Japan had been a militant and bellicose society, with deep racial animus towards its neighbors and the West, for several centuries. Not only were its military and military industries disbanded, but outward signs of patriotism were banned in public life, including schools.

Massive other changes, including the introduction of a parliamentary democracy, the political rights of women, and basic free speech rights, were enshrined in its new constitution. Again, as in Germany, textbooks were censored and control over schools was strictly regulated.

Elihu D. Richter is a retired head of the Unit of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Hebrew University School of Public Health and is the founder of the Jerusalem Center for Genocide Prevention.

The post The World Needs to Adopt a Real Humanitarian Goal: Removing Hamas From Gaza (PART ONE) first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, after being held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in this image obtained by Reuters on Jan. 19, 2025. Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO/Handout via REUTERS

The release of three hostages — Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari — by Hamas in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners dominated international headlines on Sunday.

Despite other significant events, including the pending inauguration of President Donald Trump for his second term and the (brief and anticlimactic) shutdown of TikTok in the United States, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas unsurprisingly remained at the forefront of global media coverage.

 

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While much of the reporting rightly focused on the emotional reunions between the hostages and their families after 15 months of captivity, several high-profile outlets glossed over what the Palestinian prisoner release actually entails: the release of hundreds of criminals, many convicted of violent crimes — including murder — and members of proscribed terrorist organizations.

Rather than confronting this inconvenient truth, their coverage instead leaned into framing the event as a cause for celebration.

Sky News, for example, quoted Islamic Jihad terrorist Firas Hassan lamenting the difficulties of life in prison after he was, according to them, repeatedly jailed for mere “opposition to the occupation.”

Sky further reassured readers that Hassan was only a member of the group’s “political wing.”

Is @SkyNews clueless or complicit? Do they seriously want readers to believe this Islamic Jihad terrorist was jailed for simply ‘opposing the occupation’? What are the chances his opposition took the form of planning terror attacks on Israeli civilians? pic.twitter.com/ARxETC3twD

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 19, 2025

No country in the world, however, makes a distinction between Islamic Jihad’s so-called “political wing” and its military arm.

Notably, a previous BBC article identified Hassan as “‘active’” in the terrorist organization — responsible for some of the deadliest attacks on Israeli civilian.

Meanwhile, Reuters chose to publish an “explainer” profiling the “prominent” Palestinian prisoners set to be released — a stark reminder that in journalism, words matter.

Referring to convicted, unrepentant murderers as “prominent” is not just a choice but one with consequences. Adjectives like “notorious,” “deadliest,” or “unrepentant” would certainly be more fitting for those who slaughtered innocent men, women, and children.

Instead, Reuters bestowed a veneer of celebrity on these individuals, turning what should have been an informative piece into an exercise in whitewashing terror.

‘Prominent’? Seriously, @Reuters?! How about ‘notorious,’ ‘dangerous,’ or just plain ‘evil’? These aren’t celebrities—they’re terrorists. Some of the most unrepentant, brutal murderers, and this is the word you chose? pic.twitter.com/VE8whv9L3R

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 19, 2025

Similarly, The New York Times’ so-called explainer fell short of providing any meaningful context when it vaguely informed readers that some Palestinians listed in the deal were “serving life sentences,” without elaborating on the crimes behind those sentences.

For example, Mahmud Abu Varda is serving 48 life sentences for masterminding multiple terror attacks, including a 1996 bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed 45 people.

Another prisoner set for release is Zakaria Zubeidi, a notorious Fatah terrorist and former Jenin commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. Zubeidi, arrested in 2019 for his involvement in shootings near Beit El in the West Bank. He played a role in numerous attacks, including a bombing that killed six people at a Likud party branch in Beit Shean during the Second Intifada.

Yet, these critical details were conspicuously absent.

Trust @nytimes to omit WHY these Palestinian prisoners are serving life sentences. Among them are terrorists behind some of the deadliest attacks in Israeli history. A so-called ‘explainer’ that whitewashes Palestinian terrorism. Again. pic.twitter.com/7vJelEhYtN

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 19, 2025

Perhaps the most brazenly tone-deaf coverage came from Sky News, which decided to paint a chilling scene as a “heartwarming” moment.

Posting a video of what it described as “celebrations” in Gaza following news of the ceasefire, Sky shared a clip of a large crowd chanting “Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud” — a well-known and explicit threat invoking the slaughter of Jews.

Heartwarming indeed, Sky.

They were chanting ‘Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud’—an explicit threat to slaughter Jews. But for @SkyNews, it was just Palestinians ‘celebrating’ the ceasefire. With reporting like this, how can anyone trust the media? pic.twitter.com/9jjTDwsT1Y

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 19, 2025

Fox News misreported the prisoner numbers, while the UK’s Times of London inexplicably questioned whether Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed –held hostage by Hamas since long before the October 7, 2023, attacks — were truly “hostages,” placing the term in inverted commas.

What else does The Times imagine two men, held against their will for more than a decade, could possibly be?

What fresh hell is this, @thetimes? They are not ‘hostages’ in quotation marks—they ARE hostages. Kidnapped, held captive, and dehumanized by Hamas. Stop sanitizing terrorism. pic.twitter.com/cW51DFbwns

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 19, 2025

The reunions between the hostages and their families should have been moments of pure celebration. Instead, sections of the media chose to compare these two events, presenting both as causes for celebration.

This kind of reporting does not serve the Palestinian cause. Lionizing Palestinian terrorists or excusing their actions only entrenches violence.

For any chance at lasting peace, Palestinian society must reject violence and terrorism — not celebrate those who commit it. Yet, time and again, an infantilizing press gives this death-cult behavior a pass, portraying it as just another side of the story.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Delusional Media Paints Heartwarming Picture of Violent Palestinian Terrorists’ Release in Confused Hostage Coverage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The opening of a hall that the Palestinian Authority named for a terrorist who killed 125 people. Photo: Palestinian Media Watch.

Israel is getting set to release over 1,900 terrorist prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement that Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas hopes will lead to his “revitalized” PA being given control of the Gaza Strip.

At a recent event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Fatah party, the same Mahmoud Abbas called these terrorist prisoners “heroic” and said that they are “saluted with appreciation”:

[PA] president [Mahmoud Abbas] saluted with admiration and honor the Martyrs of the Palestinian revolution and the Palestinian people…

He saluted with appreciation the heroic prisoners in the occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] detention facilities and the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners.

He also emphasized that their sacrifices will not be in vain, and that the Palestinian people will continue the journey of struggle until its legitimate goals are achieved, and until they win their freedom and national independence.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 1, 2025]

Abbas reinforced the decades-old PA message documented by Palestinian Media Watch that murderers of Israelis are heroes and role models for Palestinian society.

At the same event, a member of Fatah blessed terrorist prisoners as “the proud upright ones” and “heroes,” emphasizing that “the rifle should be aimed” at Israel:

Follow-up Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs Director and Fatah member Amin Shuman: “On behalf of all of you, we send a blessing to our prisoners in the prisons of the occupation, to the proud upright ones, to the leaders who do not bow down, to you our brother Marwan [Barghouti] … To you the heroes of the prison cells… to you Zakariya Zubeidi (i.e., terrorist)… and all the heroes of the Jenin [refugee] camp, the camp of Martyr ‘Abu Jandal’ (i.e., terrorist), who all the [Palestinian] lawbreakers need to learn from him that the Palestinian rifle should only be directed towards the chest of the occupation.“[emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Dec. 31, 2024]

Similarly, a PA district governor stressed the “honorable and noble” status of terrorist prisoners:

Salfit District Governor Abdallah Kmeil: “The prisoners are a model of nobility, honor, and purity. They are the most noble among us all, after the Martyrs. We feel all the love and appreciation for them.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, Dec. 27, 2024]

Chairman of the Palestinian National Council (the legislative body of the PLO), Rawhi Fattouh, likewise praised and “blessed” the terrorist prisoners, singling out Marwan Barghouti, who planned attacks in which five people were murdered, and Ahmad Sa’adat, who is convicted of heading the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization:

Fattouh: “We send our blessings to every male and female prisoner in the [Israeli] prisons …  led by Fatah Central Committee member fighter leader Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] Secretary-General leader Ahmad Sa’adat, who represent a model of resolve and willpower…” [emphasis added]

[Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh, Facebook page, Dec. 31, 2024]

These few examples of statements by top PA leaders and the fact that Fatah continues to brag about the number of terrorist murderers in its ranks stress that Israel is rightly concerned about the growing terror threat from PA-controlled areas, and is correct in its opposition to any kind of PA rule in the Gaza Strip.

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.

The post Palestinian Authority Official: Terrorist Prisoners ‘Are a Model of Nobility, Honor, and Purity’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.