Shattering the Hamas Victimhood Myth and Israel’s Stand for Civilization

By Sarah Belzer, Editor / The American Rant

Published May 5, 2025

“The greatest trick Hamas ever pulled was convincing the world it was the victim.”— Anonymous Israeli diplomat

In the twisted theater of global narratives, few scams rival the portrayal of Hamas and its enablers in Gaza as perpetual victims. For too long, media outlets, activists, and even some governments have amplified cries of “oppression” and “genocide” against Palestinians, while conveniently ignoring the barbaric reality: Hamas, a terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s destruction, orchestrates atrocities that make medieval tyrants look tame.

The Bloodbath of October 7: A Calculated Massacre

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants unleashed a premeditated orgy of violence, slaughtering 1,200 innocents in southern Israel, including teenagers dancing at the Nova music festival where 364 were gunned down or abducted in a hail of bullets and grenades. Entire families were burned alive, women raped and mutilated, children executed beside their parents—all livestreamed with sadistic glee. This wasn’t “resistance”; it was a calculated massacre, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, designed to terrorize and provoke.

Yet, the scam persists: Hamas hides behind civilian shields, launches rockets from schools and hospitals, and inflates casualty figures to paint Israel as the aggressor. As of 5:17 PM EDT, July 20, 2025, around 50 hostages—49 from that fateful day—languish in Gaza’s tunnels, with only 20 presumed alive amid reports of starvation, torture, and sexual violence. Of the ~251 taken on October 7, at least 148 have been returned alive through deals and rescues, including 105 during the November 2023 truce and 38 in early 2025, while 28 are confirmed dead, their bodies still held—including IDF soldier Hadar Goldin from 2014. These captives are believed trapped in southern tunnel systems near Khan Younis and Rafah, moved frequently to evade rescue. Recent tragedies underscore this horror: the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, killed in captivity, were returned in February 2025, alongside their mother Shiri’s, while father Yarden was freed alive on February 1. As U.S. President Trump pushes for a Doha deal—hinting at 10 more releases by today, though progress stalls—the urgency grows. Released captives like Keith and Aviva Siegel have detailed the hellish conditions, urging action to free the rest. These aren’t bargaining chips; they’re human lives, stolen by barbarians who prioritize jihad over their own people’s welfare.

A History Unvarnished

To understand this horror, we must confront history—not the revisionist version peddled by apologists, but the unvarnished truth. Israel was reborn in 1948 as a haven for Jews fleeing centuries of persecution, including the Holocaust that claimed 6 million lives. A Western-style democracy from the start, it enshrined rule of law, equal rights for all citizens (including its 20% Arab population), and reverence for life in its Declaration of Independence. Yet, from day one, it faced existential threats: Arab armies invaded in 1948, vowing to “drive the Jews into the sea.” Wars followed in 1956, 1967, and 1973, each time Israel defending against coalitions bent on annihilation. Gaza, once Egyptian territory, became a launchpad for terror after Israel’s 2005 unilateral withdrawal—hoping for peace, only to see Hamas seize control in 2007 via bloody coup, executing rivals and turning the strip into a fortress of fanaticism.

The Iran Axis

Hamas is not an isolated militia. It is Iran’s proxy, backed by the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, part of a regional jihad network with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen—armed and financed to destroy Israel and destabilize the West. Every “Free Palestine” chant that ignores Iran’s role becomes unknowing complicity in Tehran’s war on civilization.

Hamas’s Propaganda Machine

Hamas, backed by Iran, isn’t a liberation movement—it’s an Islamist death cult, its charter echoing Nazi-era anti-Semitism with calls to obliterate Israel and kill Jews worldwide. Since 2007, it has fired tens of thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians, sparking conflicts in 2008-09, 2012, 2014, 2021, and now this endless war—all while diverting aid to build terror tunnels and amass weapons, rather than schools or hospitals. The “victimhood” narrative crumbles under scrutiny: Hamas embeds fighters in civilian infrastructure, using Gazans as human shields to maximize deaths—then parades the bodies for cameras, blaming Israel for “genocide.” Western reporters, restricted by Hamas handlers, are fed curated images of devastation, barred from reporting rocket sites in apartment buildings or UN schools, with funeral scenes staged and footage recycled from Syria or Iraq—hostage storytelling turned media warfare. Over 41,000 Palestinians have died since October 7, per Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry—tragic, but many are fighters or victims of misfired rockets, with displacement worsened by Hamas’s refusal to allow evacuations. UN reports condemn this use of civilians as shields, yet the narrative shifts blame to Israel.

Civilization vs. Barbarism

Contrast this savagery with Israel’s ethos: A nation built on Jewish values of life, liberty, and justice the orgin of the West’s Judeo-Christian values, operates under democratic rule of law, with an independent judiciary, free press, and military bound by ethics—even warning civilians before strikes via leaflets and calls, at great risk to its own soldiers. While some reports allege misconduct by individual Israeli soldiers—such as using Palestinian civilians as shields during specific 2025 operations—these remain under active investigation and are not state policy, starkly contrasting Hamas, which broadcasts its crimes with pride. Israel reveres life, investing in Iron Dome to protect civilians rather than using them as shields. It’s a beacon of innovation—leading in tech, medicine, and LGBTQ rights—while Hamas enforces medieval oppression: subjugating women, executing homosexuals, and indoctrinating children with hatred. This isn’t a clash of equals; it’s civilization versus barbarism, where one side builds hospitals and the other hides bombs beneath them.

Truth as Resistance

The scam’s success lies in selective outrage: campuses erupt over “Free Palestine” while ignoring Hamas’s charter or the Yazidi genocide by similar Islamists. In 2025, antisemitic incidents surged—protests in Paris and New York chanting “From the river to the sea”—fuelled by this myth, demanding a global reckoning. Gaza’s suffering is real—but it stems not from Israeli “occupation”—ended in 2005—but from Hamas’s tyranny, which squanders billions in aid on terror instead of prosperity. Palestinians deserve leaders who value peace over martyrdom, life over death.

It’s time to unmask the victimhood myth. Demand Hamas’s surrender, the unconditional release of all hostages, international trials for its war crimes, and sanctions on Iran’s terror network. Support Israel with rescue funding and diplomatic backing—not as a favor, but as a bulwark for Western values against an ideology that threatens us all.

Ignore the horrors of October 7 and the hostages’ plight, and the barbarians win—not just in Gaza, but everywhere civilization hangs by a thread. The real victims aren’t the perpetrators; they’re the innocents stolen, slaughtered, and silenced. Let’s honor them by speaking truth to terror.