The Extraordinary Silence... and What It Tells Us

Why the People Who Want to "Stop the Genocide" Don't Believe It Is One

I know many readers will want to hear my thoughts on the horrific terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue yesterday. My thoughts are with the families of the victims. We will be hosting a live discussion on this with ex-Police Detective Peter Bleksley on TRIGGERnometry at 1PM UK time today.

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As regular readers will know, Israel is not one of my “issues”. It’s not a country I’ve been to, and until recently, not one I have commented on. When the terrorist attack happened on October 7, 2023 my reaction was a combination of horror and - strange as it may sound - curiosity. Whenever something happens in the world that I do not understand, my instinct is to try to learn as much as I can before forming an opinion. That’s why I said little for a year after October 7, instead engaging with people on all sides of the argument.

On TRIGGERnometry we interviewed pro-Israel voices like Ben Shapiro, Natasha Hausdorff and eventually Benjamin Netanyahu himself, as well as those on the other side like Norman Finkelstein, Bassem Youssef and Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib.

Eventually, having listened to the different arguments, I published what became my most viral article and video on the first anniversary of October 7: Why I’m Off the Fence About Israel’s War”. In it, I attempted to logically analyse the arguments and reach a conclusion. In short, my view was - and remains - that many of the anti-Israel arguments are, at best, driven by emotions which are understandable but irreconcilable with the facts, and, at worst, deliberate manipulations designed to weaponise our natural horror at seeing the realities of war.

Now, as the second anniversary of October 7 approaches, we are witnessing a spectacular cascade of events that reveal the unvarnished truth of this entire debate. And no, I am not talking about President Trump’s 21 Point Gaza Peace Plan. I’m talking about the reaction to it, which reveals what this is actually about.

The Trump plan is a roadmap to peace which delivers every single anti-war and pro-peace objective: an immediate end to the war, Israeli withdrawal, the release of over 2,000 Palestinian detainees in exchange for just 20 remaining living Israeli hostages, delivery of aid, re-opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, a non-Israeli and non-Hamas administration of Gaza, an economic development package, a commitment against the displacement of Palestinians, no annexation, no occupation and US-mediated talks between Israel and the Palestinians to achieve “peaceful and prosperous co-existence”.

To my complete lack of surprise, however, many of the most prominent campaigners against “genocide” who have graced our airwaves for the last 2 years have either stayed silent or openly called for Hamas to reject the deal.

Krystal Ball, of Breaking Points—who once published an extraordinary critique of our interview with Netanyahu, which she began by admitting she hadn’t actually watched it—spent 20 minutes on her show insinuating that Hamas should not take the deal. Her social media is a continuous stream of virtue-signalling, with no mention of the fact that if you want to stop the “genocide”, an offer to do so is on the table.

Candace Owens, another “peace” enthusiast, hasn’t even bothered to comment on President Trump’s peace proposal. She’s too busy making money from Charlie Kirk’s murder by conducting her own investigation into his assassination from the comfort of her studio. (Hint: Jews are involved.)

Here in Britain, Owen Jones has not only failed to urge Hamas to accept the deal, but, on the contrary, has shared tweets and videos portraying it as unacceptable, effectively suggesting it should be rejected.

Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the deal as yet another “colonial endeavour”.

It’s important to say: I don’t believe it’s in Hamas’s interests to accept the Trump Peace Plan. After all, it requires them to disarm and relinquish any role in the future governance of Gaza. Hamas is perfectly entitled to reject a deal it dislikes, in exactly the same way Ukraine won’t accept peace terms with Russia that it feels would damage its long term interests.

But Hamas’s ability and willingness to reject the deal is a clear indicator of what the conflict in Gaza actually is: