Why Won't the Left Hold Hamas Accountable?

It's a lot easier to blame Israel for everything.

As I write this, there is a brief ceasefire in Gaza while about 50 Israeli hostages are released and exchanged for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

But many liberals and progressives both in an out of Congress, both on and off college campuses, want Israel to declare a more permanent ceasefire. They want Israel to stop fighting. Even if Hamas started the chain of events that are unfolding, Gaza has suffered enough, their thinking goes. It’s time for Israel to end the war.

The other day, anti-Israel demonstrators disrupted the traditional Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan when they glued their hands to the middle of 6th Avenue and covered themselves in fake blood.   

Their demands, and those of others on the hard left, if you haven’t noticed, are always on Israel, rarely if ever on Hamas. The left wants Israel to stop fighting but asks nothing in return from Hamas. Have you heard pro-Palestinian demonstrators demand that Hamas release all the hostages — immediately?

Have you heard them say if Israel initiates a permanent ceasefire then Hamas should leave power and renounce violence?

Have you heard demands that Hamas should acknowledge Israel’s right to exist?

I haven’t.