Primarily, it is almost exclusively about stopping Israel's shameful behavior in killing so many Palestinian civilians in its pursuit of Hamas fighters, while giving Hamas a pass for shamefully breaking the ceasefire that existed on October 7. launched an invasion where Israeli parents were murdered in front of their children, children in front of their parents – and this was documented on GoPro cameras – raped Israeli women kidnapped or killed anyone they could get their hands on, from small children to sick grandparents.
Once again, you can – and should – be appalled by Israel's response: bombing everything in its path in Gaza so disproportionately that thousands of children have been killed, maimed and orphaned. But if you refuse to acknowledge what Hamas did to set this in motion – not to justify what Israel has done, but to explain how the Jewish state could inflict so much suffering on Palestinian men, women and children in reverse – you are just another partisan putting another partisan log on the fire. By licensing Hamas, the protests have put so much pressure on Israel that its continued existence is a target for some students, while Hamas's murderous behavior is portrayed as a praiseworthy adventure in it decolonization.
Second, when people chant slogans like “liberate Palestine” and “from the river to the sea,” they are essentially calling for the erasure of the State of Israel, not a two-state solution. They claim that the Jewish people have no right to self-determination or self-defense. I don't believe that about the Jews, and I don't believe that about the Palestinians either. I believe in a two-state solution in which Israel, in exchange for security guarantees, withdraws from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Arab areas of East Jerusalem, and a demilitarized Palestinian state is established that accepts the principle of two states for two people. in the territories occupied in 1967.
I believe in this so strongly that the thing I am most proud of in my 45-year career is my interview with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in February 2002, in which he spoke for the first time appealed to the entire Arab League to offer full peace and normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for a complete withdrawal from the 1967 lines – a call that prompted the Arab League to hold a peace conference in Beirut the following month, on March 27 and 28, to to do exactly that. It was called the Arab Peace Initiative.
And do you know what Hamas' response was to that first pan-Arab peace initiative for a two-state solution? I leave it CNN tells you. Here is the report from Israel on the evening of March 27, 2002, immediately after the opening of the Arab League peace summit:
NETANYA, Israel — A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people and injured 172 at a popular seaside hotel Wednesday, the start of the Jewish religious holiday of Passover. At least 48 of the injured were described as 'seriously injured'.
The bombing took place in a busy dining room at the Park Hotel, a seaside resort, during the traditional meal marking the start of Passover. … The Palestinian group Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist group that the U.S. State Department has designated a terrorist organization, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Yes, that was Hamas's response to the Arab peace initiative of two nation states for two people: blowing up a Passover Seder in Israel.