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Strong words. Yet with all due respect to Sharansky and yourself, not necessarily equivalent quantities, this former Soviet “refusenik” turned Israeli statesman misses a key point here due to his genuine generosity of spirit.

The problem is not just that Hamas craves Israeli civilian casualties to the point of exulting in the desecration of still-warm corpses. It’s that Hamas craves Palestinian civilian casualties. It is a death cult. And when Hamas leaders, like other Islamist radicals, boast “We love death like our enemies love life” it is, as so often with extremists, foolish and dangerous to ignore their warnings about themselves.

A National Post story last week with the classic headline “PRESSURE MOUNTS AFTER GAZA BLOODSHED” detailed Western abuse of the Jewish homeland for defending itself (“unacceptable” from France, “shocking” from Britain) before noting the death of an eight-month-old Palestinian baby. “According to her family, she was killed after inhaling a cloud of Israeli tear gas during Monday’s bloody protests on the border. They said her 12-year-old uncle had become confused and accidentally brought the baby to within yards of the barbed wire fence that Israel has vowed to defend.”

Instead of asking who “accidentally” takes a baby into a riot, her own father crowed, “She is not the first martyr for Palestine and she won’t be the last. Her sacrifice is for Jerusalem and for the homeland.” It wasn’t her sacrifice; she didn’t have a say in the matter. But his use of “martyr” emphasizes that she was not simply caught in a crossfire. Not only did Hamas want her dead for propaganda purposes, even her father seemed pretty pumped about it.

Yes. It’s revolting. So the key recommendation of my report is to open your eyes before opening your mouth. Hamas keeps leading Palestinians down an ever darker and narrower path that no true friend would want to see them on. Especially given its genocidal intent.

National Post