Hamas, Anyar Sinwar, and The Grand Delusion

Photo by Fars Media Corporation, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Yahya Sinwar was killed in Gaza yesterday on a routine Israeli Defense Force patrol. It’s reported he went out throwing a stick at his enemies. His mangled body and wide-open brain cavity was promptly displayed on the internet where people set about trying to identify him using open source (OSINT) methods.

The sleuthing was mostly nervous energy because all who are in the know, knew confirmation of his death was a matter of a few phone calls within the Israeli government. Because Sinwar had been in the Israeli prison system multiple times for terrorism. And like clock work, the confirmation came.

In an instant, strong emotions were on full display from everyone with actual skin in this fight. Palestinians lamented the loss of a poet and animal lover who served his people faithfully for his entire adult life. Israelis celebrated and taunted Palestinians proudly displaying his body all over social media. They reminded the Palestinians that their fallen hero of Hamas, who demands so much of them, raped, kidnapped and murder innocent people on October 7th, 2023.

Sinwar’s justified extra judicial killing creates more questions than it answers. Who’s going to negotiate for Hamas now? Does this satisfy Israeli bloodlust caused by pain and humiliation? Does this motivate Iran to abandon its proxy strategy of eliminating the State of Israel? Whole new can of worms.

Today, if recent patters hold, will be the start of weeks of westerners imitating the raw emotions of the actual combatants in this god-awful conflict. Opportunist will use this to justify elevating tactics on college campuses while hawks on Iran will be wanting American muscle to end this even quicker.

This piece is intended to provide some context for both passionate sides who are cosigning on to a cause. It is not an endorsement of either side but the lay of the land in a world where America can’t control other nations who feel a need to act in their own best interest. This is not to convince Israel or the many Iranian elements who are in a death struggle to change course. This is for Americans who are passionate about Israel and the region.

First, for those who sign on to the Israeli side you should be ready to support measures that are brutal. They’re designed to press Palestine into complete submission. It hasn’t been labeled as such but Jerusalem is looking for unconditional surrender. It is absolutely American policy to support Israel’s right to defend herself. However, that doesn’t mean America, officially through President Biden for the time being, is without strong reservations about Israel’s preemptive strategy.

Israel’s goal is to create buffer space between Iran and her proxy elements. These elements are created, armed and directed with one unifying cause: eliminate Israel. Even with signs of dementia, Biden sent a wise and experienced message to Israel after the October 7th attacks. He said “don’t let anger get you into the same mistakes that 9/11 got the U.S. into.” That’s precisely what a good friend would say in the aftermath.

So, if you’re siding with Israel, you need to be aware of what kind of force is being brought to bear down on Palestinians. That horrifying force is what you are affirming. What is up for debate is how much America is willing to put at risk to physically defend Israel. Missile defense systems have been deployed with over 100 American boots on the ground in Israel. Increasing that aid or even sustaining it will be a hard sell the American public. You got your work cut out for you.

Next, to Free Palestine activism in the West. You’re young, you want to be passionate about injustice and you’re just super-psyched to be part of history. The allure is understandable. It’s intoxicating to feel apart of a cause, you and your friends against The Man. But you really need to know what you are signing up for in this fight.

Forget the fact that you didn’t know that Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Popular Militia Units (PMU), or Iranian Revolutionary Guard Council (IRGC) even existed until 6 months ago. That’s forgivable as everyone had to learn sometimes. That said, now that you know these forces are a unified front America has been fighting since before your parents were born, reevaluating your position is most definitely in order.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s focus on Hamas. Sinwar was Israel’s Osama bin-Laden. Osama bin-Laden is why people get weird around September 11th and veterans get a free appetizer at Outback Steakhouse.

What the people inspiring you to join protests want from you is to saddle your own self identity with a conflict that pretty much gave birth to modern terrorism. These passionate people are trained and paid to recruit you precisely because you came up in the age of Justice. Your cause becomes their cause until, seamlessly, their cause is yours.

Ater recruitment, they convince you to escalate tactics because the cause isn’t getting enough respect and exposure. That is when they hook you, like a cult. This is where good sense should tell you to bail, but there are those who double down. You will be convinced that enthusiasm and zealousness are the only currency in the cause. The more you escalate the closer you come to a machine that is designed to catch bad people with evil intentions.

Poof, you’re on a radar. Now it is no longer seen as a protests and you will be monitored and assessed by the national security community. This is what you’re signing up for when you make Palestine your cause. It’s not deep state surveillance; it is standard operating procedure.

When you cross into this world the stakes become incredibly high. American federal law enforcement does not pretend. They are not playing games to make their step-dad mad. How they operate is not political theater. They don’t investigate things because their college boyfriend is way into it. And this is all the precursor to what terrifying force will come crashing down around you. It will absolutely change your life forever, if you make it out alive.

Through your actions you will been seen as collaborators with religious nut jobs who believe with every fiber of their being that God wants them to wage war in his name. You’ve become de facto holy warriors. That’s not what you planned when you started but that is where you will you end up.

The reality is you’re signing on to a lost cause. Diving into actively changing American policy by any means necessary on Palestine is a waste of your young life. You should abandon being little drones for Iran, but some of you won’t. So be prepared to pay a price for your cause. Obliging martyrs has been America’s business for 23 years, and business is booming.

Proceed at your own risk.