The protests against Israel around the world purport to be demanding a ceasefire, but that is not their real agenda. The not-so-hidden agenda is a demand for the end of Israel and support for Hamas. The protests began the day after the Hamas massacres of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of more than 200. 

The early protests supported the massacres and called for the Mideast to be “free” and “clean” of the Jews who live in Israel proper. Those protests against Israel began before the Israeli army responded to the Hamas atrocities and so they were not motivated by any concern for Palestinian civilians. They supported the murder of Israeli civilians.

Now that Israel is responding, there are new signs and chants demanding a ceasefire that would benefit Hamas. But every single demonstration I have seen also features signs calling for the end of Israel as a genocidal, apartheid, colonialist state. Demonstrators also tear down posters with the pictures and names of Israeli children who were kidnapped by Hamas and are being held as hostages. That, too, is not about helping Palestinian civilians.

So don’t be fooled by so-called “pro-Palestine” or pro-ceasefire protests. The few people who actually join these protests out of such beneficent motives are being used to support the real goals of the organizers: namely the destruction of Israel, the strengthening of Hamas, and the recurrence of the barbarism of October 7.

The reality is that an imposed ceasefire will not save civilian lives. To the contrary, it will cost many more lives in the long run by incentivizing Hamas to repeat the cycle it has perpetuated for decades: kill Israeli civilians; hide Hamas rockets, commanders and tunnels among Palestinian civilians, hoping that Israel, despite its effort to minimize civilian casualties, will kill some children who are being used as human shields; parade the children in front of television cameras, thereby causing outrage against Israel; force Israel into a ceasefire; and then repeat the process after Hamas rearms and reorganizes.

Leaders of Hamas have already bragged that the slaughters of October 7th were only the beginning. That they will be repeated as long as they benefit from it, as they will if a ceasefire is imposed.

Good people who care about stopping this apparently endless cycle of civilian deaths caused by Hamas should be protesting against the ceasefire and in favor of the total destruction of Hamas. Such a result would be “pro-Palestinian,” because Hamas has caused more damage and harm to the Palestinian people than Israel. So anyone who is truly pro-peace, pro-Palestinian and pro-civilian should be encouraging Israel to finish what Hamas started, by eliminating that terrorist organization from the Gaza Strip. 

It may seem counterintuitive to oppose a ceasefire in the interest of reducing civilian casualties, and that is part of the Hamas strategy. It understands that people are more influenced by pictures of dead babies than by logic and experience. They also understand that most people do not think in the long term. Instead, they look for short-term band-aids such as ceasefires. But applying a band-aid instead of a disinfectant may result in infections.

So the next time you see a demonstration in the local streets, on the university campus or on television, read the signs carefully. Even if you misguidedly support a ceasefire, don’t join the demonstration unless you also support Hamas, the end of Israel, and the slaughter and kidnapping of Israeli civilians. Don’t be fooled by the anodyne covers that hide the malicious goals of the protests. Don’t allow yourself and your good name to be misused by bad people with evil intentions.

These worldwide protests — ill-intentioned as they are — are having an impact on the policy of many nations, most especially the United States. Israelis, who are generally highly critical of their government, are not falling for the deceptive nature of these efforts. 

They know that Hamas seeks to destroy Israel and to do to the millions of Israeli Jews what they already did to 1,200 of them. But much of the rest of the world naively assumes that joining a call for a ceasefire is being a do-gooder. It is not. Anyone who joins these protests, whatever their personal views, becomes a do-badder encouraging antisemitism and barbarism.