Based on my own observations—and yes, a sweeping generalisation—I believe the pro-Israel movement broadly wants three things:
- The return of the hostages.
- An end to ongoing threats.
- A future where Gaza is free from Hamas and other terrorist factions, allowing true liberation and self-determination for Palestinians—provided that includes recognising the same right for Israelis.
By contrast, I rarely see the pro-Palestinian movement show consistent concern for Palestinian human rights. Almost none call for the removal of the actual dictators who oppress them daily. Instead, many deny the Jewish right to self-determination altogether, hold Israel to a standard no other state is held to, and exaggerate Israeli wrongdoing in a way that strongly echoes classic antisemitic tropes—depicting Jews as uniquely malevolent or undeserving of basic rights.
I struggle to understand how terms are twisted so far that when applied to Israel, they become unrecognisable from their dictionary meanings. I can’t comprehend how people argue that Palestinians have an exclusive right to return to the exact plot their relatives lived on 80 years ago—a right applied to no other refugee population, least of all the 850,000 Jews ethnically cleansed from Arab countries who were never offered peaceful return, equality in a single one of those countries or reparations.
I don’t understand how so many in this movement feel overwhelming sympathy for Arabs displaced in war, yet express none at all for the Jews who were displaced by Arab regimes—through documented policies of violence, seizure of property, and forced expulsion. Nor do I understand how blame is almost entirely placed on the one side that has repeatedly offered compromise, while the other side proudly declares that it wants everything and will accept nothing short of total “return.”
It’s bewildering how this has become a global obsession for some—and when Jews are assaulted, threatened, or murdered in its wake, the blame is flipped onto the victims. How can a logical conversation be had with people who accuse Israel of genocide but won’t even acknowledge that Hamas openly calls for one? Who speak endlessly of human rights, yet seem to mean only freedom of movement or control of airspace—while ignoring Palestinians’ total lack of press freedom, voting rights, or freedom of assembly under Hamas as well as basically every other right that exists.
They tear down posters of kidnapped civilians and still claim moral high ground. I have honestly struggled with how completely crazy it is, but I'm certain while many people have genuine sympathy for anyone killed, injured or suffering that it's absolutely nuts to not assign any of the blame for that to the people who started the war, refuse to surrender, will not give the hostages back and have made it crystal clear they operate on a "more the merrier" policy when their own citizens die.
In that context, it’s hard not to defend Israel—when the double standards are this glaring, and the animus this targeted. No, it’s not because Israel is uniquely wicked and therefore deserves it. This pattern of behaviour—demonising Jews and rationalising the hatred—goes back well before the modern state of Israel. In fact, it goes back before Christ. It's been revolting to watch.