Reading hard-left media or the propaganda produced by “pro-Palestinian” organizations, one forms the impression that the IDF is constantly launching random attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. But write to a Palestinian university about coming for a semester abroad, and you will be told that students “live normal lives” and that “the media exaggerate” the situation. Furthermore, writes David Collier, the selfsame NGOs devoted to harping on the “brutality of the occupation” reassure prospective volunteers that, if they are wise about avoiding riots, they’ll be fine:

[Representatives of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)] point out that injuries can occur at demonstrations. They suggest [that similar injuries] . . . would occur if you were to take such actions in “many places in the world.” Secondly they state that when working in the field, either at checkpoints, schools, or in the towns, the risk of any injury is “low or non-existent.” . . .

In fact, Palestine is a perfect place for Westerners to volunteer. . . . These areas are close to Europe, cheap to get to, incredible to travel around, sunny, and most of all secure. Given the proximity and cost, there are few better alternatives today to volunteering in “Palestine,” and none working on the premise of humanitarian aid are anywhere near as safe.

Yet, at the same time, most of the people arriving in Palestine have never seen conflict and have never left first-world comfort. . . . Even though it’s perfectly safe, someone coming from the West is likely to view the life of the Palestinians as being harder than anything they have seen. . . . . That the lives of those in the West Bank may be better than almost everyone else in the region does not cross their minds. . . .

But manipulating young Western students with no sense of history and who are legitimately shocked by realities that are harsher than those of their university dorms doesn’t take much in the way of political genius—simply a willingness to lie in the service of a cause. These NGOs knowingly mislead people who may truly believe the Palestinians are randomly being murdered in the streets—because they know they can lie and still receive funding from Western governments.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.