19 Comments

There is no moderate Palestinian Movement. There never was. I doubt there ever will be. The Palestinian National Movement is an anti Jew death cult. Period. Both the PLO and Hamas. There may be individuals who feel otherwise. They are voiceless.

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Nice article, Pat. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your piece. Absolutely true - no more moderate Pal Arabs other than a handful. Seems like the Pal Arabs are as successful in siding with a winner (NOT) as Taylor Swift is in picking men! 😊

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You asked for voices of reason from the pro-Palestinian side. I've been following Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (https://www.facebook.com/afalkhatib) for a while because he does give me hope. He really is part of a very small number of people. Still, every little bit helps.

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Heard and read lots about "Jewish Voice for Peace". Is there a Muslim Voice for Peace? Lots of Jews and Jewish organizations decry Israel's actions in Gaza. Any on the Muslim side condemning Hamas, recognizing that Israel has a right to be free of terror attacks and any two state solution includes the state of Israel? Not being facetious. Would love to learn more, but I think those voices dare not speak.

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FYI, JVP (and IJV etc.) are essentially Jews for Jihad (alongside the equally oxymoronic Gays for Gaza). They incredibly usefully provide cover for the Jew-hating anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian movement in all of its hateful manifestations against accusations of antisemitism. “Behold, there are Jews among us who also believe that the State of Israel should be eliminated and is an unspeakably evil aberration." The online Palestinian manuals for demonstrations, encampments and occupations specify that organizers should take great care to ensure that JVP is front and centre in their activities. Scott, don’t be duped.

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Thank you for this. I do wonder how we constantly read in publications like the Toronto Star, NY Times, etc., about how Mahmoud Abbas is a "moderate". A moderate by what standard? Because he is slightly more subtle in expressing his desire that all Jews be killed?

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It’s all relative, isn’t it?

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Yes, I suppose that it is. 😕

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The moderate position exists(ed) in Israel. It was the primary victim of the 7th, in both a literal and a metaphorical sense.

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And yet, despite the overt attempts (again) at oppression/genocide of the Jews, groups like Betzelem and JVP (IJV in Canada) still exist. Hypocrites!

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"The Horseshoe Theory — the idea that the far-left and the far-right have more in common than they would like to think — is nowhere more evident than when looking at the world’s approach toward the conflict in the Middle East."

I have a theory that these so-called Pro-Palestinian leftists are not acting in accord with leftist principles; so there is no horseshoe here, there is just right-wing activists calling for the destruction of the nation of Israel

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I guess it comes down to nomenclature.

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But these "pro-palestinian" activists are so desperate to be seen as leftists, without doing any of the things that define a leftist, that I find myself aggressively making the distinction. Someone online said the thought-terminating cliche "when have kids protesting ever been on the wrong side" and since then I have felt the need to be on guard against the assumption that these protesters are left-wing, no matter what niche they claim to fill. Since they have right-wing goals, they should be considered right-wing activists?

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Interesting. People accuse me of being right-wing because I am a Zionist. This is irrational to me. But I think you are on to something … I will let your ideas percolate a little …

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Thanks for this article, Pat. There is so much extreme rhetoric and ideas coming from the anti-Israel activists that it is hard to see a path through. However, I do think we need to seek out and promote moderate Palestinian voices and indeed all moderate Muslim and Middle-Eastern voices - how else do we find a way through? Here are some that I have found without even searching too hard - I think it's time we all lifted them up. And I wonder if we are going to hear more of these voices from Palestinians when Hamas is finally finished and it is safer to speak out.

1. The many ordinary Gazans interviewed by the Centre for Peace Communications, who one and all HATE Hamas and many of whom seem at least biddable to peace with Israel. https://www.peacecomms.org/gaza#voices-from-gaza

2. John Aziz, British-Palestinian peace activist who has written some fine pieces in Quillette and The Atlantic. He makes a heroic effort to understand and be sympathetic to the Israeli narrative.https://quillette.com/2024/10/07/the-decline-and-fall-of-hamas-israel-gaza/

3.Bassam Eid - Brilliant and brave Palestinian peace activist. https://www.bassemeid.com/

And then other Muslim and Middle-Eastern voices -

4. Loay Alshareef, from UAE, working tirelessly to promote good Muslim-Jewish relations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuxesbLMkvY

5. Dr Qanta Ahmed - Brilliant American Muslim doctor who has written with extraordinary moral clarity about October 7th in the Spectator and elsewhere. https://www.qantaahmed.com/

6. Dalia Ziada - Egyptian feminist - https://www.fdd.org/analysis/op_eds/2024/03/11/egyptian-activist-tells-post-she-condemns-hamas-and-october-7-massacre/

...seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34

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Great Article!

There are no moderates, save a few, most are too scared to speak out, for fear of reprisals. But almost to a single one, they belive that their religion is correct. All others must submit. So even if you do not agree with everything Islamists say and do, you agree with the tenants of your religion.

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