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Palestinian Hatred is Caused by Palestinians
Palestinian youths at a graduation ceremony for a military-style camp organized by the Hamas terror group in Gaza, Aug. 18, 2017. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.
JNS.org – There is a quote falsely attributed to first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion: “We must expel the Arabs and take their places. … And if we have to use force—not to dispossess the Arabs of the Negev and Transjordan, but to guarantee our own right to settle in those places—then we have force at our disposal.”
Ben-Gurion never said this. Instead, he wrote, “We do not want to and we do not have to expel Arabs and take their place.”
The difference between the fake and the real quote is telling. One falsely portrays Zionism as brutal and heartless towards Arabs. The other clearly shows the opposite.
The real quote is consistent with Zionist values. They are built on Jewish values, which emphasize that all people have been equally created in God’s image and must be treated accordingly.
Judaism does maintain that when an enemy comes to kill you, “rise up and kill him first.” This does not contradict the value of treating all people as equals. It simply prioritizes the preservation of Jewish life and the Jewish people. The State of Israel adheres to this value just as much as the value placed on equal treatment. In many ways, defending the Jewish people is the reason Israel exists.
Regarding Israel’s defensive actions, many critics point to a 2009 speech by American Gen. Stanley McChrystal. He spoke about a phenomenon he called “COIN Mathematics.” He said, “Intelligence will normally tell us how many insurgents are operating in an area. Let us say that there are 10 in a certain area. Following a military operation, two are killed. How many insurgents are left? Traditional mathematics would say that eight would be left, but there may only be two, because six of the living eight may have said, ‘This business of insurgency is becoming dangerous so I am going to do something else.’ There are more likely to be as many as 20, because each one you killed has a brother, father, son and friends, who do not necessarily think that they were killed because they were doing something wrong. It does not matter—you killed them. Suddenly, then, there may be 20, making the calculus of military operations very different.”
General McChrystal’s concept of “COIN Mathematics” leads critics to claim that by attacking Hamas and killing its terrorists, Israel is creating even more hatred against Israel. For every Palestinian terrorist killed, their reasoning maintains, another 20 Palestinians become terrorists. Thus, the critics claim, Israel’s efforts to stop Hamas and Palestinian terrorism are counterproductive and actually perpetuate the problem.
McChrystal’s COIN Mathematics have been largely accepted by scholars. But it isn’t a sound line of reasoning when applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. First, it assumes that Palestinian hatred of Israelis only begins when Israel responds to Palestinian terrorism. Second, it assumes that Palestinians can’t see past their immediate circumstances, take agency for themselves and leave their hatred behind.
COIN Mathematics was developed after America entered Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War and then Afghanistan and Iraq a decade or so later. Until then, it is claimed, few Saudis, Afghanis and Iraqis hated the United States. The hatred only developed after America’s actions.
But Palestinian hatred of Israel and Jews predates the founding of the State of Israel. The Palestinians’ first recorded antisemitic riots took place in the mid-1800’s, 25 years before the Zionist movement began and a century before the State of Israel was founded. Clearly, nothing Israel or Jews did created it.
Moreover, blaming Israel for Palestinian hate is a classic example of the soft bigotry of low expectations. The Palestinians can choose to give up terrorism and make peace with Israel. Their lives would immediately improve. Blaming Israeli policies for Palestinian terrorism assumes that the Palestinians lack the agency to make better choices.
Palestinian hatred of Jews was not caused by Israel. It long predated Israel’s founding. Palestinians have passed it down to their children for generations. Whatever Israel does, Palestinians will hate Israelis and Jews. We need to expect more from the Palestinians rather than blame their victims.
The post Palestinian Hatred is Caused by Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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