Hamas terrorism isn’t ‘self-defense’ against ‘occupiers’

Council on American Islamic Relations Los Angeles executive director Hussam Ayloush recently defended Hamas’s barbaric slaughter of 1,200 Jewish, Thai, Filipino, Bedouin and other men, women and children. He claimed Israel is “an occupier” that “does not have the right to defend itself.” He condemned Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza and said only Palestinians have “a right of self-defense.”

His assertions reflect language in the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Hamas Charters. Israel is an “imperialist, colonialist, racist, anti-human,” even “fascist” “colonizer,” they declare. The “Zionist entity” “occupies” Palestinian lands and denies Palestinians their “right to return” to their homes. The charters call for the “liberation of Palestine” through “resistance,” “armed struggle” and “self-defense.”