If carried out, the public execution of Palestinian-American Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad set for Dec. 3 would be the first in modern U.S. history.
Today is October 7, 2026, and it has been an emotional rollercoaster, as I imagine it has also been for many other Jews and Israelis. In this post, I will put my feelings into words and reflect on how they have changed over the past three years, using the five stages of grief as a framework. For each section, except the one about October 7, I will include a song, which will be a bolded link in each section, that captures what that part of processing October 7 means for me.
תמיד אוהב אותי (Tamid Ohev Oti)
I am an Ashkenazi Jew, which means my family was expelled from the land of Israel long ago. I don't know exactly when my family left, but I do know they ended up in Germany. Since many people view the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a religious lens, I want to be clear: I am, and have always been, an atheist. For me, I cannot believe there is a God who would have allowed the Holocaust and other atrocities to occur. However, being Jewish remains an important part of me since Jewish identity, as an ethnoreligion, encompasses both religion and ethnicity. Although I do not practice the religion, I am still ethnically Jewish.
My family's history is unique because we are among the very few Jewish families where not a single member of our extended family or ancestors was directly killed or persecuted by the Nazis. My family fled Germany before the Nazis came to power, recognizing the growing danger and fearing it would no longer be safe to stay. They left everything behind and rebuilt their lives from nothing in new countries. Half moved to the United States, while the other half moved to Israel. Contact between the two branches was lost and never reestablished, so I only know the American side of my family. What I do know about my family before they decided to flee is that they loved living in Germany. They didn't leave solely to start something new somewhere else. They fled because they were lucky enough to know that their lives depended on it.
While I am not Israeli, I lived in Israel for part of my life, and have been there on many visits. I have always deeply loved the country. I also know I have long-lost relatives there, though I don’t know who they are. That uncertainty has given me a sense of familial connection to all Israelis, somewhere among them are members of my own family whom I will never know.
Before the Hamas massacre, I was naïve about the security threats Israel faced. I remember that almost everywhere around Israel, at all times, there were always military and armed reservists. I remember that a few years before October 7th, I stood at the border between Israel and Lebanon at the Rosh HaNikra Crossing. It was so militarized, and it felt eerie. I never understood exactly why it had to be like that, as I always felt safe in Israel. October 7th made me realize why it was always like that.
Before the antisemitism that followed the Hamas massacre, I was naïve about how deeply antisemitism still ran across the world. I was fortunate to grow up in a part of the United States where I could openly identify as Jewish without fear. That sense of safety led me to believe antisemitism belonged largely to the past. The rise in antisemitism I witnessed after October 7 shattered that belief and forced me to confront the painful reality: antisemitism had never disappeared. As always, it has emerged in a form that fits the current social-political climate. It emerged in a way that is “politically correct.”
Before the Hamas massacre, I had believed in a two-state solution. I believed that peace and coexistence with Palestinians was possible.
October 7th The Proof (Graphic Archive): https://www.hamas-massacre.net/
I still remember the day of the Hamas massacre. I was glued to my phone the entire day, and I watched the whole thing unfold. I saw some of the most horrific acts of violence I have ever seen on that day. Many of which are archived in the link I have attached at the top of this section.
Hamas unprovokingly attacked Israel: Israeli civilians were murdered, entire communities were attacked, children were kidnapped and dragged into Gaza, and Jews were slaughtered in the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Babies were murdered, innocent civilians were burned alive, women were raped, and people were beheaded in the streets.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskIsrael/s/GuNMm8SOQa
Palestinians in Gaza were celebrating in the streets and were kissing the floor with joy as Hamas paraded dead Jews through the streets.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestinian_Violence/s/luCdabVpex
Palestinian civilians joined in on the Hamas massacre, and joined in on beating the Israeli hostages as they were paraded through the streets of Gaza.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestinian_Violence/s/23vaHjVjp2
As a diaspora Jew, I saw the pro-Palestine protests erupt globally directly after the massacre, cheering for the slaughter of Jews, justifying what Hamas was doing, and espousing their bloodcurdling desires and feelings.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IsraelWarRoom/s/6NCDj4cxBJ
October 7th was the moment all my sympathy for Palestinians evaporated, and it was the moment everything changed for me. It ended my support for a two-state solution and shattered my belief that peace and coexistence with Palestinians was possible.
Denial is the stage of grief where one has difficulty accepting what happened; shock, disbelief, or numbness. Denial was the shortest stage of grief for me pass when it came to October 7th. I was briefly shocked that such a barbaric massacre against Jews could occur in the modern world. I was in disbelief that humans could be as barbaric as Hamas and be so evil. I was in disbelief that Palestinians were celebrating what happened and joined in on the violence. I was in disbelief that people around the world were celebrating and justifying such a terrorist attack. It made me lose faith in humanity during this time.
Anger is the stage of grief where one has rage, resentment, frustration, or a sense of injustice. זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק. This was probably the longest stage of grief I experienced, and it lasted years after the attack. The song attached in this section truly captures the feelings I had. I wanted the IDF to eradicate Hamas, and I wanted Israel to wreak havoc across Gaza.
From the first day, Israel was blamed, and to this day, for a genocide that did not happen in Gaza. I used to ponder how much easier it would have been to eradicate Hamas by indiscriminately bombing Gaza, as critics of Israel believe it did. So many soldiers' lives could have been saved if Israel did that instead of the precise war it conducted. The war could have ended so much quicker. The cruel shows and parades Hamas held while releasing dead babies and children truly brought out these types of feelings.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestinian_Violence/s/rxO3b3PgkG
However, I am happy Israel did not stoop to the level of their enemies. I understand that Israel had to exercise an unimaginable amount of restraint in retaliating against Hamas due to the hostages. I know Israel has to conduct its wars, as always, within the boundaries of international law. I admire that Israel conducts its wars to such a high moral standard. Eventually, I realized that I could have been one of those hostages in Gaza. While I wanted Israel to eradicate Hamas, I understood that the hostages had to take top priority. I am happy Israel kept their morals and conducted its war in accordance with international law. That is what moved me past this stage.
Bargaining is the stage of grief where one dwells on “what if” or “if only” thoughts and imagines how things could have gone differently. For me, this stage was short. October 7th really made me rethink how good of a decision it was to be so generous for decades to the Palestinians.
Israel offered so many opportunities for Palestinians to establish a sovereign and independent state. From UN Resolution 181, to the 2000 Camp David Accords, to the 2008 Olmert proposal, Palestinians demonstrated time and time again that they do not want peace and coexistence. Every offer of peace was met time and time again with violence and a war of annihilation against Israel. The first thing supporters of Palestine will say is that these proposals, such as UN Resolution 181, weren’t “fair.” However, by not fair,” they mean that Israel exists at all. This is exactly the mentality that has gotten Palestinians into the position they are in, and is the source of this whole conflict.
What truly led to October 7th was the 2005 engagement of Gaza, where Israel fully withdrew all military and settlers from Gaza. Giving Palestinians an opportunity for sovereignty and trust resulted in the democratic election of Hamas, the conditions that led to October 7th, and the war as a consequence.
Critics of Israel will argue that Gaza was an "open-air prison," or that Israel "propped up Hamas." However, that is not true and is blatant misinformation. The blockade in Gaza was a direct result of the democratic election of Hamas by the Palestinians of Gaza, and aid was allowed into Gaza as an act of peace. This does not prove Gaza was an "open-air prison" or "Israel propped up Hamas," but actually demonstrates that Israel acts in accordance with international law and generous principles.
What helped me move past this stage was realizing that the past could not be changed. Nevertheless, we can learn from it and use those lessons to shape the future. Trust in Palestine, the withdrawal of the military and settlers, will not be done again. We have learned the lessons from the past.
Depression is the stage of grief where one feels sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, withdrawal, or the weight of the loss. This was also a very long stage for me. I will never forget all the innocent people murdered that day, the horrors the survivors faced, and I will never let the world forget them.
I’ll never let the world forget how Gazans kidnapped an 8-month-old baby from his home and strangled him to death in a dark underground tunnel in Gaza alongside his mother and brother. His only “sin” was being born Jewish.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestinian_Violence/s/v0O2g3Uzdb
I will never let the world forget the innocent young partygoers at the Nova Music Festival who fell victim to the brutality of Hamas on October 7th. All they wanted to do was dance and enjoy life, but Hamas murdered, raped, and kidnapped them just for the crime of existing.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskIsrael/s/I7Q5CZyV1X
I will never let the world forget Shani Louk and the brutality she and the other victims of October 7th faced at the hands of Hamas. Everyone who died on that day was innocent, and the violence they faced was entirely unjustified and unprovoked. Every victim of Hamas was a human being, and Hamas simply killed for the sake of bloodlust. It did not matter if you were Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, or Palestinian; their sole goal was to murder as many people in Israel as they could that day.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestinian_Violence/s/vZb332Rcmx
What got me past this stage was the realization that staying locked in this phase is exactly what the antisemites and enemies of Israel wanted. I cannot let this conflict consume me, and I have to move on with life. Jews have been persecuted since the dawn of time and survived multiple genocides, and yet we still thrive. This is exclusively due to Jewish resilience and our ability to thrive in the most difficult conditions. I pushed myself to embrace and embody the bravery and resilience Jews have shown throughout our ancient history.
We will dance again (עוד נרקוד)
Acceptance is the stage of grief where one accepts the reality of what happened and begins to learn how to live with it and move forward. I recently entered this stage, and I am not fully there yet. However, the bravery and courage of Israelis and Jews around the world are what are bringing me into this stage. Despite October 7th, Israel has emerged as the strongest it has ever been. The world never liked Israel before, and it certainly still does not like Israel now, but that is ok. Jews have never been liked, so I do not expect that from the world. I will not be ashamed of myself for being Jewish, and I will never condemn Israel for defending itself against evil terrorist organizations.
Israel has demonstrated, as it always has, that it is on the right side of history. Israel fights in accordance with international law, and can take on any threat that faces it. What I have learned from October 7th is that the world cannot be trusted to ensure the safety of the Jewish people and Israel. Jewish people and Israel will always be hated, so it does not matter what they think. I will always be proud to be Jewish, and I will always proudly stand with Israel. The boos from the world mean nothing to me, because I have seen what makes the world cheer.
🤍💙🇮🇱 עם ישראל חי
They stormed communities, murdered families in their homes, raped, burned and kidnapped.
Three years on, Israel remembers the victims and the barbarity of Palestinian jihadist terrorism.
We will never forget.
Source: https://x.com/israel/status/2107674525458718931?s=46&t=YRh59JXhCHDFoUYvch0TKA
On this day in history, October 6, 1973, the Battle of the Valley of Tears began in the Golan Heights.
Over the next four days, heavily outnumbered Israeli soldiers would fight one of the most desperate and heroic battles in Israel's history.
It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Across Israel, people were fasting and praying when Egypt and Syria launched their attacks. Sirens broke the silence. Reservists rushed from their homes and synagogues to join a war that had already begun.
In the northern Golan Heights, Israeli tank crews faced wave after wave of Syrian armor. The defenders included the 7th Armored Brigade, commanded by Avigdor "Yanush" Ben-Gal, and soldiers from the 188th Armored Brigade. Among them was the 77th Battalion, led by Avigdor Kahalani.
Their task was to stop a much larger force from breaking through the northern Golan. Behind them lay the roads toward northern Israel.
For days, they fought under heavy shellfire. At night, Syrian tanks had night-vision equipment that the Israeli crews lacked. Enemy tanks slipped through the darkness, and some clashes took place at terrifyingly close range. The defenders lost tanks and friends, but kept fighting.
By October 9, the fourth day, the Israeli force was badly worn down. Crews were exhausted. Tanks had been destroyed or damaged. Ammunition was running dangerously low.
Then the Syrians launched another major attack.
Under heavy bombardment, some Israeli tanks pulled back from the high ground overlooking the valley. If the Syrians took those positions, the defense could collapse.
Kahalani rallied the remaining tanks and led them forward to regain the heights. His men were pushed close to their limits, but they followed. They reached the firing positions and fought Syrian tanks at distances of just tens of meters.
Eleven tanks led by Yossi Ben-Hanan arrived to reinforce the battered defenders. Israeli artillery poured fire onto the Syrian attack. Together, the crews, commanders and supporting forces held on.
By midday, the Syrian tanks began to withdraw.
The line had held.
The valley was left littered with hundreds of wrecked Syrian tanks and armored vehicles. The victory came at a terrible cost to the Israeli soldiers who fought there and the families who would never see them return.
After the battle, Ben-Gal told Kahalani over the radio: "You are a hero of Israel."
The Valley of Tears became a symbol of Israeli courage because the men who defended it kept fighting through fear, exhaustion, loss and dwindling ammunition. Their stand stopped a breakthrough in the northern Golan and helped give Israel the time it needed to turn the war around.
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This is the first 10/7 anniversary of this subreddit, as we are a new community. We have made the difficult decision to close the subreddit down on that day, and our focus will be on survivors.
We are partnering with u/SafSafeHeartIsrael to talk about the work they do with people who survived the massacre at the Nova Festival and other places in Southern Israel that day
These people and their families need support. This can be in the form of Therapy, Housing, basic needs like food - but they also need the support of their community, and that includes us.
SafeHeart is one of the organizations doing that work
https://www.safeheartil.com/en
They provide mental health care to people in need, and their team of 400 therapists have provided tens of thousands of hours of Therapy.
Trauma care for survivors is critical, and the suicide rate is high.
SafeHeart will have an AMA style post, explaining what they do, and will be here to answer questions all day
No other posts will be allowed on r/AskIsrael that day
None. Zero. While we appreciate the condolences and other posts, they will not be allowed on 10/7. We are making 10/7 survivors our exclusive focus.
The SafeHeart post will be up before and a few days after so people can read, comment, and ask questions. A link to their post is attached here:
In collaboration with The Petek, here are the results of r/Israel's 2026 Election Straw Poll.
426 of you voted between 27 and 30 September. We counted the ballots like a real election: 3.25% threshold, then Bader-Ofer.
| List | Seats | Ballots | Polling average |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Democrats | 40 | 120 | 9 |
| Yashar | 27 | 80 | 23 |
| B'Yachad | 24 | 71 | 11 |
| Yisrael Beiteinu | 11 | 35 | 8 |
| Likud | 8 | 25 | 22 |
| The Reservists and the Economic Party | 6 | 18 | 0 |
| Amcha Israel | 4 | 14 | 0 |
Netanyahu bloc 12 · Change bloc 108 · Arab parties 0 (polling average: 50 · 51 · 12)
A list needed 14 ballots. The Joint List 11, Religious Zionism 11, Blue & White 10, Ra'am 9, Otzma Yehudit 7, and 9 more lists with 1 to 3. 17 lists got none.
Full results: https://www.thepetek.com/strawpoll
Poll tracker: https://thepetek.com/polls
Thanks to everyone who voted.
Not based on recognised statistical methods. No conclusions about voting patterns or public opinion can be drawn from it. Commissioned and conducted jointly by r/Israel and The Petek. Elections Law, section 16ה(ד).
הסקר לא התבסס על שיטות סטטיסטיות מוכרות, ולפיכך אי אפשר להסיק ממנו מסקנות לגבי דפוסי הצבעה או עמדות של הציבור. הוזמן ונערך במשותף על ידי r/Israel והפתק. חוק הבחירות (דרכי תעמולה), סעיף 16ה(ד).
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On this day in history, October 4, 2003, Palestinian Islamic Jihad carried out a suicide bombing at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa, Israel, murdering 21 people and wounding dozens.
It was Saturday lunchtime. Families had gathered to eat at a seaside restaurant jointly owned by Jews and Christian Arabs, where Jewish and Arab Israelis regularly worked and ate together. Hanadi Jaradat, a female Palestinian lawyer, a suicide bomber from Jenin, detonated an explosive belt among the diners.
The bomb was packed with metal fragments to make it more deadly. The explosion sent shrapnel through the crowded restaurant, destroying its interior and killing children, parents, grandparents and staff.
Two families each lost five members across three generations.
The Zer-Aviv family lost Bruria, her son Bezalel, his wife Keren, and their children: four-year-old Liran and one-year-old Noya. A grandmother, both parents and both children were murdered in the same attack.
The Almog family lost Ze'ev and Ruth, their son Moshe, and their grandchildren: nine-year-old Tomer and eleven-year-old Assaf Staier.
Ten-year-old Oran Almog survived, but the blast left him blind. His father, brother, grandparents and cousin were dead. He lost his sight and five members of his family in one afternoon.
Four Arab employees were also murdered. The terrorists attacked a place where coexistence was part of everyday life, and killed the people who made it possible.
In 2012, the Arab Lawyers Union awarded Jaradat its highest decoration and sent a delegation to present it to her family. A union representative said its lawyers were proud of her actions. The woman responsible for murdering children at lunch was being honored for it.
Maxim was rebuilt and reopened. A memorial near the restaurant remembers those murdered there.
Welcome to the r/AskIsrael Metapost! This thread is dedicated to discussing the subreddit itself. Whether you have questions about moderation, feedback on our rules or policies, concerns about the community, or ideas for improving AskIsrael, this is the place to share them.
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We want to create an easier and more direct line of communication between the community and the moderation team. A public metathread gives everyone a more accessible and informal way to talk directly with us, raise concerns, suggest changes, and discuss how the subreddit is run.
We also want to take this opportunity to clarify exactly what AskIsrael is, and what it is not.
At its core, our community is a place to ask good-faith questions about Israel. The purpose of the subreddit is to give people from around the world a place to ask genuine questions and hear directly from Israelis and others who can provide pro-Israel perspectives.
We are not an Israel–Palestine debate subreddit. There are other communities specifically dedicated to debating the conflict. Likewise, AskIsrael is not a place to simply tell Israelis your opinions about Israel or use a question as a vehicle for making a political statement.
This does not mean controversial, contentious, or difficult questions are unwelcome, they absolutely are. We simply ask that posts be genuine questions asked in good faith, with an openness to hearing the answers.
On this day in history, October 2, 1938: Arab attackers massacred 19 Jews in Tiberias, including 11 children, during the Arab revolt in British Mandatory Palestine.
The attack began around 9 p.m. Telephone lines were cut and roads were blocked. Armed attackers struck government buildings and entered the Jewish Kiryat Shmuel neighborhood, breaking into homes, murdering families and setting buildings on fire. Around 70 attackers took part. Only 15 Jewish guards were defending a neighborhood of roughly 2,000 residents. The approach facing the Sea of Galilee had been left unguarded because an attack from that direction was considered unlikely.
Rachel Mizrachi, 26, was murdered with her five children: Ezra, 12; Miriam, 5; Yochebed, 3; Samuel, 2; and Hephzibah, just one year old. Their father, Shimon, was on guard duty elsewhere in the city when his family was killed.
In another home, Joshua Ben-Arieh, his wife Shoshanah and their son Arieh were reported stabbed and burned to death. Their other son, Moshe, just a year and a half old, was shot dead. Three children from the Leimer family, aged 12, 10 and 8, were also reported stabbed and burned to death in that house.
The synagogue was set ablaze. Its elderly caretaker was stabbed to death, killed beside the Torah scroll. Two Jewish guards who came to help were ambushed and killed.
Alex Morrison, who arrived shortly after the massacre, described seeing the bodies of babies still burning. His account also described naked female bodies bearing evidence of horrific knife violence.
The British government's report to the League of Nations described the massacre as "systematically organized and savagely executed." It stated that 15 of the 19 Jewish victims had been stabbed to death.
The Haganah subsequently investigated the failures in the city's defenses. Later that month, Tiberias's Jewish mayor, Zaki Alhadif, was also assassinated.
Entire families were destroyed in their homes. Eleven children never grew up. This happened in 1938, a decade before the State of Israel was even established.
For those who may not have seen the reports yet, a terrorist attack occurred last night aboard Flight FZ 1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv. One of the pilots stabbed his co-pilot, plunging 14,125 feet in just 29 seconds.
Reporting on the incident:
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-910155
Here is also the Flightradar24 report for anyone interested:
Captain Smit Machchhar, a true hero, fought off the attacking co-pilot despite being stabbed and helped the crew regain control of the aircraft and avert a potential catastrophe. Off-duty pilots were then handed control, stabilized the aircraft, and safely made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The attacking pilot has since been identified as an Omani national.
This post is not intended to criticize media outlets for exercising caution when reporting on developing events. Rather, it highlights the inconsistency in that caution. Allegations implicating Israel get reported prominently before the facts are firmly established, while reports concerning terrorism against Jews or Israelis are often treated with greater hesitation pending confirmation. One does not have to be an expert to conclude that this attempted attack is an attempted terrorist attack that can be traced back to the Axis of Terror. Especially given the terror network's history of hijackings and terrorist attacks.
Here are just a few examples of instances in which established media outlets rushed to conclusions incriminating Israel, only for their initial reporting to later be corrected:
“Israel allows terrorist attacks to happen as a false flag”
Even in a post-9/11 world, no security system is impenetrable. Aviation security has been transformed by extensive screening and safeguards, yet this incident demonstrates how vulnerabilities can still emerge. Such as threats from pilots pre-entrusted with cockpit access. The same basic principle applies to October 7. The existence of sophisticated Israeli intelligence, surveillance, and border defenses does not mean those systems cannot fail. Every security architecture has vulnerabilities, and determined attackers specifically look for the Achilles’ heel that lets them circumvent otherwise formidable defenses. A catastrophic security failure is not, by itself, evidence that the attack was deliberately permitted to occur.
“The Hannibal Directive”
Thankfully, this terrorist attack was thwarted before the worst-case scenario materialized. However, Israeli fighter jets were scrambled after authorities were notified of this incident, illustrating the extraordinarily difficult decisions governments face when aircrafts are compromised and terrorist attacks are plausible. The post-9/11 era has forced governments worldwide to prepare for precisely these scenarios. If authorities conclude that a hijacked aircraft is about to be used as a weapon in a mass-casualty attack, military intervention, including the possibility of shooting down the aircraft, may become a last resort.
In an alternate reality, had the attacking co-pilot successfully seized control of the aircraft and authorities established beyond reasonable doubt that he was about to crash it into a densely populated Israeli target, Israel would have faced the same horrific dilemma that many governments have prepared for since 9/11. Under the military protocols of many countries, a hijacked aircraft being used as a weapon in an imminent mass-casualty attack can ultimately be subject to lethal interception. That possibility illustrates the inherently messy nature of responding to terrorism. Sometimes every available option risks innocent lives, and governments may be forced to choose between allowing an attack to proceed or using force to prevent an even greater loss of life. The deaths of innocent people during such an intervention would not, by themselves, demonstrate that the government intended to kill its own civilians for the sake of killing them.
Most importantly, the actual incident illustrates why sweeping claims that Israel simply disregards the lives of its own civilians are baseless. Israeli authorities did not simply destroy an aircraft because it presented a potential threat; the response involved scrambling fighters while the situation developed and the crew worked to bring the aircraft safely under control. This demonstrates an important distinction too often lost in the debate over how Israel handled October 7th; the use of lethal force in an extreme hostage or hijacking scenario is not equivalent to wanting, or casually choosing, the deaths of the civilians being endangered.
Since Google Earth updated its maps, I’ve been seeing a lot of anti-Zionists sharing videos or images of Gaza flat as a pancake, expecting that to somehow excuse Hamas’s responsibility for wreaking this havoc on Gaza. Sharing this with a sanctimonious “this is Gaza” or “how could you support this” isn’t the argument you think it is. Because you know what? I do support it, and I’m not ashamed to say so.
Gaza’s a parking lot now because Hamas committed October 7th. A massacre that was the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. A completely unprovoked and unjustified terrorist attack, and another catastrophic example of Palestinians continuously choosing mass violence over any conceivable path toward peace. Given this declaration of war by Hamas, and the fact that Palestinians have rejected every opportunity to establish their own state, and Hamas’s stated aim to repeat October 7th “again and again” until Israel is destroyed. It is completely understandable how Israel conducted military operations in Gaza.
Israel was completely justified in its retaliation against all the terrorists involved in October 7th, whether it’s Hamas for conducting it, Hezbollah for launching missiles in support of Hamas, or the IRGC for funding their axis of terror. Gaza was particularly destructive for several reasons. First, they were the primary faction responsible for directly conducting October 7th. Second, they embedded themselves within civilian areas. Their whole strategy centers on blurring the line between civilian and militant. When Hamas spreads its terror tunnel network across all of Gaza, it conducts military operations from residential and commercial areas; it is completely legal to bomb them. When they launch missiles from schools and hospitals, international law surely allows Israel to bomb them exactly where they are. No one gets immunity to terrorize anybody just because they use human shields. Sharing the satellite imagery of Gaza just demonstrates that Hamas found the FO part of FAFO.
Whenever people share satellite images of Gaza, this is my reaction
This discussion is not about whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic, nor is it an argument over whether Zionism itself is moral or immoral. It focuses on a much narrower distinction: Zionism and support for Palestinians are not inherently contradictory, whereas anti-Zionism and support for Israel are.
Zionism is simply the idea that Jews have the right to self-determination, and/or the idea that Israel should continue to exist.
Anti-Zionism is the opposition to Zionism: the belief that Jews do not have a right to national self-determination in Israel, and/or that Israel should not continue to exist as a state.
The first thing critics will likely want to debate is the definition of Zionism being used here. However, the reality is that this is the basic definition of Zionism; or, at the very least, if one refuses to accept that, it is the definition of Zionism that most Jews and Israelis themselves understand and identify with.
Many Zionists would even argue that Zionism is a historical topic (a thing of the past), as the “idea that Jews have the right to self-determination” was only relevant before the establishment of Israel. Given that Israel has already been established and has existed for nearly eight decades, many Zionists argue that, in a modern context, “the idea that Israel should continue to exist” is the only definition still practically relevant to discussing a modern version of Zionism.
Zionism is a remarkably broad political ideology, despite critics' tendency to narrow it into a much more specific, and often unrecognizable/incorrect, set of political positions. Zionists can disagree profoundly over borders, settlements, Palestinian statehood, security policy, religion, and the Israeli government while remaining Zionists.
Therefore, Zionism today, at its core, is only the belief that Israel should continue to exist as an independent and sovereign state.
I will leave readers to decide for themselves what that distinction says about anti-Zionism and to debate its broader implications in the comments. What I will say, however, is that the distinction itself is significant: Zionism leaves room for supporting both Israel and Palestine, while anti-Zionism begins with opposition to the continued existence of Israel as a state.
At the 2026 United Nations General Assembly, two extraordinary false allegations against Israel and the war against Hamas demand a fact check. UN Secretary-General António Guterres presented Gaza as the deadliest conflict of his decade-long tenure, while French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks suggests that Hamas had never operated in the West Bank. Both assertions collide with readily available facts and illustrate how easily misleading narratives about Israel can be repeated from the world’s most prominent diplomatic stage.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IsraelNews/s/Jq4tAVAU3h
The precise death tolls of wars in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, and Sudan remain disputed. However, what is not disputed is that all of these conflicts have a minimum scale of killing higher than that of Gaza. Therefore, Guterres’s claim is factually false, and blatant misinformation like that from the UN Secretary-General is deplorable and significantly undermines the UN's credibility.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IsraelNews/s/mnagjjTdQU
Objectively false statements such as the one attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron demonstrate how easily misinformation about Israel and Palestinian terrorist organizations can enter mainstream political discourse. While French Press later argued Macron’s comments were mistranslated, the corrected translation still distorts reality.
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-909407
Hamas does not govern Judea and Samaria, but its presence and militant activity there are extensively documented. The Congressional Research Service explicitly states that Hamas operates in the West Bank and reports that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have aided increased militant activity there targeting Israelis and undermining the Palestinian Authority. Emphasizing that Hamas does not govern the West Bank downplays and diverts from the reality that it is indeed active and prominent in Judea and Samaria.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/escalating-hamas-activity-west-bank
https://www.congress.gov/crs\_external\_products/IF/PDF/IF12549/IF12549.3.pdf
False or misleading claims from UN officials and world leaders do nothing to advance Israeli–Palestinian relations or bring the conflict closer to resolution. Instead, they distort public understanding, deepen mistrust, and undermine the credibility of the international institutions and diplomatic efforts that are supposed to facilitate meaningful progress.
The first image shows the 2008 Olmert proposal, while the second shows the 2000 Camp David proposal. Are these maps accurate representations of what was proposed?
From my understanding, the Second Intifada followed the breakdown of the 2000 negotiations, and Hamas then won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election in Gaza. Given those developments, why was the 2008 proposal seemingly more favorable to the Palestinians than what had been discussed at Camp David in 2000?
Is there something I’m missing?
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