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Saving the West from the Evils of Hamas
(National Post-Canada) Avi Benlolo - New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani released an official video that repeated his false narrative that a "genocide" had been committed. In Mamdani's world, it is Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu that brought on devastation in Gaza, not Hamas. Listening to Mamdani, you might think it was Netanyahu that started that war on Oct. 7. You might be led to believe that it was Netanyahu who savagely murdered 1,200 in Israel that day. Or that it was Netanyahu who fired rockets at Israel, built tunnels with aid money, and used his own citizens as human shields in orchestrating the war against Israel. Why do people continue to reject overwhelming evidence that Israel has been defending itself against brutal terrorists, when it appears clear and compelling? One reason is psychological "cognitive dissonance" when facts conflict with deeply held beliefs. Protecting one's identity and staying aligned with one's family and community usually overwhelmingly trumps the truth. We are in a perfect storm when it comes to the rejection of the truth. For years we were fed with new ideological frameworks that include newly created concepts like "Islamophobia" but have left out antisemitism almost entirely, despite the fact that statistics show that the Jewish community is the most targeted group for racism and discrimination. It's going to take generations to overcome the distortion and denial that has taken place since Oct. 7. The writer is chairman and CEO of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative, a Canadian think-tank.