Hamas not only uses its civilians as human shields, but may be the first government in history that wants to see its own people killed in order to blame another country, Israel, for their deaths. Meanwhile, Israel goes out of its way – seriously risking the lives of its soldiers – not to commit any crimes against humanity or indiscriminately bomb, as Russia does in Ukraine.

"Israel implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any nation in history," wrote John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.

For decades, many of the countries of the Arab world have wanted to erase Israel from the map. Each time, they have failed. Their project consists of trying to destroy the Jewish state and kill every Jew, as Hamas' 1988 Charter requires. No one in a Western country could support it without being seen as an anti-Semite.

A radical change occurred, however, in 1964. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded and the myth of "Palestinian cause" invented. Zuheir Mohsen (زهير محسن) a leading PLO member responsible for Damur massacre, admitted:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese.

"Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism. For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva, and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

A "national liberation struggle" was, in fact, fabricated by Soviet Union's KGB, according to Ion Mihai Pacepa, who served from 1972-1978 as deputy chief of Romania's foreign intelligence service and advisor to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Pacepa said:

"The PLO and the Palestinian Narrative was dreamt up by the KGB, which had a penchant for 'liberation' organizations."

"First, the KGB destroyed the official records of Arafat's birth in Cairo, and replaced them with fictitious documents saying that he had been born in Jerusalem and was, therefore, a Palestinian by birth."

"According to [Soviet leader Yuri] Andropov, the Islamic world was a waiting petri dish in which we could nurture a virulent strain of America-hatred, grown from the bacterium of Marxist-Leninist thought. Islamic anti-Semitism ran deep... We had only to keep repeating our themes — that the United States and Israel were "fascist, imperial-Zionist countries" bankrolled by rich Jews."

Israel was no longer described as a small Jewish state besieged by much larger, powerful Arab countries filled with despicable intentions. Israel was suddenly presented as an "imperialist" power oppressing a small deprived people and supposedly having stolen their land. Anti-Israeli terrorist acts were presented as "resistance". The aim was to seduce the West; and quickly seduced it was.

An illusory "peace process" began. In reality, it was a war process. The PA areas became a base for bloody anti-Israeli attacks which did not diminish in intensity until a security barrier, begun in 2002, was mostly completed in 2007.

Called by Andrew Roberts "The Churchill of the Middle East," [Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] evidently sees that Israel has no "partner for peace".

"Palestine" became a member of UNESCO in 2011, even as the Palestinian Authority continued supporting terrorism and is therefore a terrorist entity. This reward for terrorism marked the first time that a terrorist entity was granted a seat in an organization purporting to promote world peace.

So-called human rights organizations, as well as the media and so-called educational institutions, have been complicit.

American universities and colleges have received donations "that have no recorded nor reported dates of receipts" currently estimated at $22 billion. ["More than 50% of this has come from authoritarian and antidemocratic Middle East governments..."]

After these billions, in almost all universities in the US, the history of the Middle East is taught in accordance with the "Palestinian cause". No one says that this "cause" was invented in 1964.

The Biden administration rarely, if ever, criticizes the Palestinian Authority, nor Hamas and its sponsors Qatar and Iran.

The Biden administration also leaves aside that the Palestinian Authority -- which pays its people for life if they murder Jews – is still a terrorist entity, and instead treats it as if it were a legitimate interlocutor.

As the State of Palestine does not actually exist, deciding to "recognize" it will not bring it into being. On the contrary, the announcement will reinforce the belligerent actions of the Palestinian Authority and the leeriness of the Israelis. The Israelis clearly saw the Palestinians violate an official ceasefire on October 7; murder, rape, torture, kidnap and start an unprovoked war; then complain to the international community when the Israelis were inconsiderate enough to fight back.

The haste of Spain, Ireland and Norway can only lead Hamas leaders and their supporters to think that terrorism works and achieves results. Just wait until they try it again in Europe, especially after Iran has its nuclear bomb.

If Hamas manages to survive the current war – as its patrons, Qatar, Iran and the Biden administration apparently wish -- Hamas will be able to continue organizing terrorist acts. In fact, Hamas official Ghazi Hamad has vowed to do exactly that:...

Currently, despite pressures, betrayals and attempts at destabilization, Netanyahu stands firm and fights. He appears under no illusion about what will happen if Hamas, after the fighting is over, is allowed to continue as a terrorist threat.

Of course, Hamas, Qatar and Iran do not want to stop; they want to have the international community and America tell Israel to stop -- permanently -- and leave them free to continue their attacks.

Hamas is interested only in a "permanent ceasefire" by Israel, not a temporary pause. Why should they agree to a pause when they see the whole world attacking Israel? To them, everyone is roughing up Israel: it looks as if they are winning. Now the US is reportedly trying to cut a separate deal to release the five American hostages, leaving the other 120 hostages, and Israel, high and dry. Some believe that at least a third of them have been killed. That would be the ultimate triumph: having the US grant the aggressor, the terrorist group Hamas, a big reward for its massacre, to induce it to go to sleep before the November election.

As far as the Saudis are concerned, the last thing they want is a Palestinian state. They just cannot say so publicly.

For four years, Israel's enemies were largely powerless and silent. It would be so helpful for the Free World, the US, and even the indoctrinated, abysmally governed Palestinians, to have those policies back.

The federal tendency runs counter to the European political tradition based on national sovereignty. In fact, Western Europe, the heartland of the EU, is the birthplace of the very concept of the nation-state, built on the ruins of various empires, a model subsequently adopted by almost all other countries.

In the first mass rally against the success of the National Rally in the election, thousands of "progressive" militants gathered in the Place de la République to "defend French values". However, there was not a single French flag in sight. Instead, we had a forest of Palestinian flags with slogans against the EU leadership, US President Joe Biden, and, of course, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Thus the European Union is under attack from both the radical right and the ultra-left, while the center-left is shrinking and the center-right flirting with radical right groups.

European democracies face the danger that Hobbes warned against two centuries ago: the Leviathan, i.e. the state, being put to death with a thousand cuts. Political fragmentation, encouraged by the proportional representation system, creates scores of small but ultra-active groups wedded to niche ideas, not to say obsessions.

The latest EU election showed at least one thing: The EU is becoming increasingly unpopular. Under growing pressure from the fringes both of right and left, it is doubling down on some of the policies that occasioned its unpopularity.