One Step Closer to Freedom

Following Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in major cities around the world hurling anti-Israel and antisemitic slurs. They waved Palestinian flags, ripped down posters of abducted Israelis, and praised the barbarism of Hamas as they celebrated the brutal deaths of more than 1,200 Israelis.

To justify their elation, they’ve convinced themselves that Hamas operatives aren’t terrorists; they’re fighters engaged in a noble struggle for freedom and independence. To these demonstrators, Hamas and the Ukrainian military share the same mission: fighting for their land and freedom.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, I’ve often heard it said, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Freedom fighter has a positive tone. As Western-minded individuals, we believe in the tenets that uphold independence and freedom from tyranny.

But what happens when the “freedom fighters” violently attack the country that has offered them freedom, peace, and independence time and time again? It’s hard to justify their struggle when their enemies repeatedly offer them freedom.

Freedom and independence were offered to the Palestinian people from modern Israel’s inception. In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition plan that guaranteed land for an Arab state next to land promised for a Jewish state. The provisional Jewish government accepted the partition plan, including the creation of this second Arab state (Jordan being the first); but the Palestinians and surrounding Arab nations refused. Upon declaring independence, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

After Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War in June 1967, the Jewish state offered to leverage its regained land to negotiate peace with its disgruntled neighbors. Two months later, Arab leaders, still reeling from their defeat, gathered in Khartoum, Sudan, where they developed the Khartoum Resolution, better known as the “three nos”: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.

In the early 1990s, the Oslo Accords were designed to establish peace between the Israelis and Palestinians and lead to an independent Palestinian state. The pact gave the Palestinians autonomy to govern their people in their own territories through the newly established legislature, the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Oslo Accords provided an opportunity to build trust and secure freedom and independence for Palestinians. Sadly, PA President Yasser Arafat used it to continue the struggle against Israel, which increased Palestinian terrorist attacks in the region.

In 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton brokered a peace deal between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, which carved out 97% of the West Bank (biblical Judea and Samaria) and 100% of Gaza for a Palestinian state. Yet, Arafat rejected the deal.

In 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally granted Palestinian sovereignty over the Gaza Strip, eventually removing every Israeli citizen from the region. Since then, Gaza has become a launching pad for terrorism into Israel, which gave rise to the October 7 massacre.

Finally, in 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered nearly the entire West Bank to create a Palestinian state; but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, like Arafat, said no.

Hamas operatives aren’t freedom fighters; they’re terrorists whose goal is to eradicate the Jewish people and destroy Israel. For more than 75 years, Israel has endeavored to move toward peace, independence, and freedom for the Palestinians. The freedom Hamas and its supporters claim to fight for is really what they fight against.

The real freedom fighters are among the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces. These young men and women risk their lives in Gaza to defend the Jewish state and help those innocent Palestinians eagerly awaiting the end of Hamas tyranny—because the end of Hamas will move them one step closer to freedom.