The Gaza ‘protest’ isn’t really a protest at all

This wasn’t a “demonstration” by “unarmed protesters” as characterized by some in the media. It was an attempt by a terrorist organization, Hamas, to 1) lead an insurgency, and 2) build up international sympathy to their cause – which, in this case, is the destruction of Israel.

There were undoubtedly civilian casualties on the border of Gaza where tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered, and over 60 people were killed and close to 2,400 were wounded.

We should mourn the unnecessary loss of life, but what we should not do is misreport what is actually happening in Gaza.

• On MSNBC Monday, Matt Bradley reported from Gaza saying initially that the protesters were “unarmed” before quickly correcting himself indicating they were lightly armed, saying, “You saw tens of thousands of young people crossing fields between the urban part of Gaza and the Israeli border, essentially trying to walk across this heavily militarized border unarmed. It’s easy to say they were completely unarmed. They had some light weapons. A lot of them would be burning tires or rolling tires to try to melt the razor wire. They had slingshots. They had a new and crazy invention, incendiary kites, where they would try to loft kites and set them on fire to try to light up some of the agricultural fields beyond the border with Israel.”

But the fact of the matter is that Palestinians were throwing grenades and molotov cocktails, and even using a kite to drop them on Israeli troops. It doesn’t matter if Israeli Defense Forces, as Bradley put it, were scared; there’s an imminent risk that people embedded in the crowd of protesters were presenting. However light or heavy the weapons are, they’re not unarmed. They may be outmatched against IDF troops, but they’re not unarmed.

• The Great Return March – signifying the Palestinian’s right to voluntarily return to or re-enter their country of origin – began at the end of March. It has since been co-opted by Hamas. The terrorist organization, which has explicitly stated in its charter that they intend to “eliminate” Israel, has co-opted the movement. Whatever goodwill the Palestinians hoped to achieve is immediately undermined by the fact that Hamas is leading them. Even on Hamas’s website, they’re encouraging the “protests” to continue.

• With respect to those killed, the IDF is reporting that 24 of those killed had “documented terror backgrounds.” And you don’t have to take their world for it. Björn Stritzel tweeted out images coming from the Hamas-controlled Health ministry indicating the “martyrs” who died were part of the terrorist organization’s internal security apparatus.

As much as people who support the Palestinian cause of freedom and fairness want to believe that all Palestinians are the victims here, that’s quite clearly not the case. Palestinians are indeed suffering where there’s a shortage of water, electricity, an unemployment rate that hovers over 40 percent, crippling lack of infrastructure, and a lack of access to healthcare. However, all of their suffering is being exploited by Hamas, who use it as ammunition to justify the slaughter of innocent people living in Israel.

Palestinians have legitimate grievances that need to be addressed, but following Hamas’ lead only emboldens the terrorist group bent on destroying Israel out of their pure hatred for Jews.

Peace is possible in the region, but Hamas wants no part of it. It’s time to stop giving them the attention and sympathy they’ve manufactured for years.