Yaffee: We need to understand what really drives Hamas

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was censured this week for promoting the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

Yes, believe it or not, this was her reaction to the recent horrific terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7^th. While she tried to justify the saying as an “aspirational” message of freedom for all people in the region, everyone knows it’s really a call for the eradication of the Jewish state. It was great to see every member of the GOP congressional delegation in Alabama support the censure.

I have one important question, though, for Tlaib and the protesters who keep promoting this idea. Why is it so important for them to have all of Israel? Why is Gaza not good enough?

There’s this weird assertion by some pseudo-intellectuals that the conflicts in the region are really about land disputes. They argue that Palestinians really just want freedom of movement or freedom from occupation. This argument just doesn’t align with the history and the facts.

Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Hamas has been the governing authority in the region since 2006. Countries like Iran, and the U.S. unfortunately, have given them billions of dollars in aid for years. Gaza has people, natural resources, and a geographical location that should be able to foster a prosperous state.

They don’t need more Israeli land to be a successful country. So why do they want it so badly?

World leaders need to understand what really drives groups like Hamas. It’s not land, it’s not occupation, it’s not a result of “a cycle of violence.” Hamas and other terrorists in the area are driven by their radical religious ideology.

Hamas’ radical interpretation of Islam makes them believe that it’s Allah’s will for Muslims to be in complete control of the Holy Land. Their ideology says it’s the ultimate insult that Jews are in control of Jerusalem. They will never be satisfied until all the Christian and Jewish “infidels” are eradicated from Israel forever.

There was a video that went viral showing a children’s play put on by young Palestinians. The video showed children acting out killing Jews and getting martyred. Too many Palestinians are indoctrinated since birth into this radical religious ideology. And yet some think they’re motivated by land and occupation? Please.

Some on the left have called Hamas “freedom fighters.” Freedom fighters don’t kill and rape innocent women and children. Freedom fighters don’t kidnap elderly Holocaust survivors. Freedom fighters don’t shoot people down at a concert for peace. These are not freedom fighters. They are radical Islamist terrorists.

Tlaib has said that she wants a one-state solution. While she argues that it will be a state that’s united where Jews and Palestinians can live together in peace and harmony, we all know that wouldn’t be the result.

I don’t know if Tlaib is naïve or just lying about her true intentions, but she should know that as long as too many Palestinians adhere to the radical Islamist ideology, her dream of a united one-state solution, or even a real two-state solution, isn’t possible.

This is a war of ideas, and the West cannot defeat this enemy until it comes to grips with that reality.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee