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Source: https://www.thefp.com/p/why-wont-peace-protesters-give-peace-a-chance
Will the "Peace Protesters" Give Peace a Chance?
(Free Press) Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib - Strangely, activists and organizations formerly insistent on an immediate ceasefire suddenly appear quite opposed to ending the war in Gaza if it is based on the U.S. proposal, which they have denounced even though the plan literally stops the actual war. The lack of support from self-styled peace activists in the West is unsurprising. A lack of clarity, consistency, or levelheaded thinking has been a staple of Western-based activism that purports to care about the Palestinian people in Gaza. As someone who has lived part of my life in Gaza, lost family members and my childhood homes in this war, and is dedicated to Gaza's future rejuvenation and healing, I believe it is more urgent than ever to liberate Palestinians from the vicious cycles of violence brought on by Hamas's 18-year rule. Worse, I have watched the devolution of the pro-Palestine narrative into widespread adoption of Hamas's views and positions. Nowadays, you can't go to a mainstream pro-Palestine event or conference without proud, overt support for jihadi terrorism and Hamas's armed-resistance narrative. The Hamas narrative has clearly been mainstreamed as the Palestinian narrative. This lionization of Hamas in the West has come as actual Palestinians in Gaza have grown more vocal in their opposition to Hamas, its terrorism, the hypocrisy of its "resistance," and how foolish Western figures are for celebrating it. Islam has strict codes of conduct on how war is supposed to be waged and prohibits crimes against civilian populations like Hamas perpetrated on Oct. 7. One of the first steps to freeing Palestinians from the horrors of war is to free them from the "Free Palestine Movement" in the West. I am encouraged by the large number of Palestinians in Gaza, with whom I am in regular contact, who denounce Hamas. They understand the need for lasting peace with Israel as positive and necessary. They are desperate to move away from the "resistance" narrative and embrace the coexistence and nation-building agendas in which a prosperous state of Palestine is a reality. The writer, a Gaza native, is a resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council.