Do you support Hamas? Better think again - opinion

Please keep an open mind on your support for Hamas. This includes the possibility of changing your initial premise: that you are against Israel.

Fundamentally, ask yourself these questions: Whatever it is that I have against Israel as a state, do I place the same charges on other countries that are or have been in similar situations? If so, what are my conclusions about their legitimacy and do I demand that these states disappear? 

Are there any other countries that fulfill the same requirements I place on Israel to be legitimate? Is Israel the only state that falls short of my expectations or theoretical requirements?

Do I focus on Israel in the same way that I do with other countries, especially in the Middle East? Are Palestinians to blame for anything at all in the current situation? Why focus on the war between Israel and Hamas and not the wars in Darfur, Syria, Yemen, etc., with hundreds of thousands of deaths?

If you still believe that Israel falls short of your requirements, will you be honest enough to recognize that no country on Earth would satisfy them? And, if Israel does not fall short but neither completely fulfills your expectations, then you will see that Jews have as much of a right to a state as any other group, despite the fact that their country does not constitute Nirvana. This would not imply you are pro-Israel, but neither anti-Israel, in the same way that most people are neither pro-Sweden nor anti-Sweden.

The same thing applies, regarding Palestinian Arabs as refugees. There have been tens of millions of refugees in the world since the end of World War II. Do you know what happened to their properties and persons and how their situations were resolved (if at all?)? What does that say about the countries that currently exist from which they fled or were expelled?

In other words, if you are only in favor of the elimination of the Jewish state, where a large number of Jews live, where the Jewish calendar is followed, where Jewish books are studied and the Jewish language is spoken, to where most Jews point their prayers, and which by itself would imply genocide of Jews, and at the same time you don’t have anything resembling the same interest nor condemnation against any other country, then hopefully you will see the error of your thinking.

WHY WOULD anyone approach this subject in this way is beyond any reasonable comprehension. We offer you food for thought.

What would you have done on October 8, 2023?

If you were the prime minister of Israel, charged with preserving the safety and the lives of the citizens of that country, what would you have done on October 8, 2023, the day after the slaughter of 1,200 people, and the kidnapping of about 250 others? Would you have appealed to the United Nations? Perhaps asked for a meeting of the Iranian leaders, so as to peacefully settle this barbaric episode, and put it behind us?

Note that this open letter is addressed to Hamas supporters, not members of that terrorist organization, themselves. We have in mind the Harvard University students who blamed Israel, entirely, for the events of October 7, 2023. We are thinking of student protesters at Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley and other such universities.

We are addressing, particularly, Jewish students who protest on behalf of Hamas. Why are these questions not meant for Hamas members themselves? They are a death cult. They are beyond reason. But their supporters may, just may, consider these words and rethink their positions.

We cannot overlook this priceless gem from Golda Meir: “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

Use the same standard you use for Israel with any other state and see what happens. If, however, you stick with your initial premise, it is not because you are in favor of justice or peace, or freedom for Palestinians, but in favor of theocratic dictatorship for the latter, mass murder of Jews, and widespread destruction.

Walter E. Block, PhD, is Harold E. Wirth eminent scholar endowed chair and professor of economics at Loyola University, New Orleans. Alan G. Futerman is a PhD candidate in political economy at King’s College, London. They are co-authors of The Classical Liberal Case for Israel (Springer, 2021).