Israel’s Apologists Are Showing They Couldn’t Care Less About Palestinian Lives
As the war in Gaza continues, cheerleading of civilian slaughter and justification of war crimes are pervasive. But they’re not coming from the Left — they’re coming from politicians and commentators defending Israel’s vicious bombing campaign and blockade.
Civil defense teams and locals rush to rescue people from the rubble of a destroyed house of a Palestinian family hit by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on October 16, 2023. (Belal Khaled / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Since war broke out between Israel and Gaza, prompted by the indefensible murder of 1,300 Israeli civilians and the kidnapping of scores more by Hamas fighters, there’s been no shortage of commentators across the political spectrum taking the Left to task for allegedly cheering on or justifying these terrible crimes.
“‘Pro-Palestine,’ to many of them, is pro-Hamas,” wrote New York Times columnist Bret Stephens. “Israelis are guilty by virtue of being Israelis, so their murder and humiliation is something to laugh at.”
“One wonders if any left-wingers, who have spent years justifying and thus encouraging Palestinian terrorism, will re-evaluate their narrative, of poor defenseless Palestinians victimized by Israeli bullies,” historian Gil Troy wrote in the Wall Street Journal the day of the Hamas attack.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.