The following is in response to an email I received last week. The person writing wasn’t hostile or inflammatory—just trying to make sense of things. Their concern was genuine. And because we live in a moment when so many people seem to speak past one another, I appreciated the tone. I’ve chosen to share both the question and my reply (in longer form here) in the hope that it might be helpful to others navigating these same questions.

With respect, Peter, can’t one protest the massive number of civilian deaths in Gaza without being “pro-Hamas”? Are you saying this level of death—including children, aid workers, and journalists—is justified because of what Hamas did? I’m not questioning your feelings or your love for the Jewish people, but can’t we hold grief for Gaza’s dead too?

Yes. Of course we can. And we must.

I want to start there. Everything that follows hinges on it. The death of innocent people—especially children—is an unspeakable tragedy. If we lose the ability to mourn for people simply because they were born on the other side of a border, or raised speaking another tongue, something inside us has already begun to decay.

And that’s only the beginning of the answer. Because compassion without clarity can quickly turn into confusion—and confusion, in wartime, can lead people to take positions that unwittingly support those who cause the suffering.

I’ll speak plainly.

Hamas is not a misunderstood political movement. It is not the inevitable result of occupation. It is a radical, Islamist terror organization built and sustained by the Iranian regime, with a singular purpose: the elimination of the State of Israel. Not its current administration or any other, not a territorial conflict—but an ideological wish to destroy the country and its seven million Jewish inhabitants. This is not politics. This is a religious edict among Hamas members and its supporters. The goal as stated in their charter is death. This is a quote directly from the original Hamas Charter of 1988. Article 7 is among the most chilling and revealing passages. It reads:

“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say: O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
(Hamas Charter, Article 7 – quoting a hadith from Sahih Muslim)

The massacre they carried out on October 7, 2023—now 640 days ago—was not an act of resistance. It was a pogrom. They hunted Jews in their homes, murdered entire families, raped women beside the bodies of their children, and set human beings on fire. The overwhelming number of people they targeted weren’t soldiers. They were civilians. Infants. Grandparents. Holocaust survivors.

And still, Hamas holds hostages. Hostages have been—and are again—their lifeblood. From Hamas’s perspective, no matter what “deal” is struck, they will never give them all up. The hostages are leverage. Currency. As of now, around 50 remain in Gaza. Some are believed to be alive. Many are not. Some were murdered early on. Among them were Kfir Bibas, a 9-month-old baby; his 4-year-old brother, Ariel; and........

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