Just Facts Daily

Justifying Atrocities

In the aftermath of 1,200 Israeli civilians being murdered by Hamas, what portion of registered U.S. voters aged 18 to 34 said it was “justified”?

Correct Answer

Tell Me More

An October 2023 nationally representative survey by Harvard/Harris found that 24% of registered voters thought the murder of 1,200 Israeli civilians by Hamas “can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians.” The portion of people who held this view ranged from a low of 9% among those aged 65 and older to a high of 49% among those aged 18 to 34. During these attacks, Hamas intentionally killed civilian men, women, and children as they tortured, raped, and dismembered them. Fueling support for such terrorism, Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani have falsely accused Israel of genocide and war crimes.

DocumentationHarvard/Harris Survey Actions of Hamas Sanders’ Claim Mamdani’s Claim

Receive New Research

Genocidal War Crimes

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani claims that Israel is committing “genocide” and “war crimes” in Gaza by bombing ambulances, targeting residential buildings, and blocking food aid.

Get the Facts

IN FACT, Mamdani is projecting the genocidal war crimes of the Islamic Resistance Movement (i.e., Hamas) onto Israel. Here are the specifics:

In 2000, peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis organized by Democrat President Bill Clinton fell apart because the Palestinians, in the words of Clinton, “said no to everything.”
At that time, Israel had a “prosocially minded leftist government” that was eager for peace and offered far reaching concessions like giving the Palestinians 90% of the West Bank and “a capital in East Jerusalem with sovereignty over the Christian and Muslim quarters of the old city,” but the Palestinians rejected every proposal without making counterproposals.
In the wake of the failed talks, Palestinians launched a barrage of “devastating suicide bombings” that killed hundreds and wounded thousands of Israeli civilians, leading the people of Israel to elect a rightist government and build a border barrier along the West Bank to block “terrorists from entering Israeli population centers.”
In 2006, the people of Palestine voted to give control of their government to Hamas, whose “Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement” calls for “killing the Jews” and summons the “vast Arab and Islamic world” to join in this “Jihad” “until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised.”
However, the border barrier — which was opposed by the United Nations — led to a dramatic decline in suicide bombings, and the number of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians stayed at greatly reduced levels for more than a decade while leaders of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad remarked that the barrier was impeding their ability to carry out such attacks.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas carried out a large-scale military assault that penetrated the Gaza border barrier at dozens of locations by using drones, explosives, and construction equipment and then proceeded to murder, torture, rape, and kidnap hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children.
After 10/7, about three-quarters of Palestinians continued to support Hamas, and Hamas “continued to bombard” Israel “with rocket attacks, causing more deaths and injuries.”
In response to those atrocities, Israel killed Palestinian militants while warning civilians to get out of harm’s way and taking other measures to reduce civilian casualties, even when it endangered their own soldiers.
In contrast, Hamas used civilians for human shields, stole food aid, and exploited hospitals, mosques, and schools to launch missiles, hold hostages, and hide terrorists — all blatant violations of the laws of war.
Nevertheless, the UN Human Rights Council — whose members include numerous authoritarian regimes — accused Israel of genocide by ignoring reams of facts which contradict that allegation and implicate Hamas.
Meanwhile, U.S. politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D–MA) declared that “Israel needs to stop bombing Gaza” because Israel is “obligated under the laws of war to protect civilians” — while in reality — the laws of war require combatants to “reduce the risk of harm” to civilians “only to the extent feasible or consistent with military necessity,” as Israel does.
Likewise, U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D–MI) blamed Israel for a deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza when all of the evidence pointed to a Palestinian rocket misfire.
Similarly, Tucker Carlson platformed a guest who showed multiple pictures of a Palestinian boy named “Amir” and stated that he personally witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shoot and kill him — while in reality — the boy was found alive and well less than one week later.
The religion of Islam explicitly permits lying “at times of war, as a tactic or to demoralize the enemy and win the war,” Hamas has declared a perpetual war until Israel is “obliterated,” and other factions of Islam have joined a jihad to “achieve global domination — through any means, including violence.”

Receive New Research