Greetings, Greta Thunberg, and greetings to all those sailing with you on the flotilla to Gaza. We’re sure many of you are good people with noble intentions. And since you’re already on your way to this region, we want to share some facts about Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood.
That's because we are convinced that if you truly knew the reality, at least the honest among you would join protests against the Islamo-Nazism that threatens you just as much as it threatens us.
Let’s start with Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood worldwide and of Hamas. He once declared on Al Jazeera that Muslims should “continue Hitler’s work and annihilate the Jews.” In the same spirit, Hamas supporters wave Nazi swastikas during their rallies.
Hamas broadcasts have aired explicit calls “to kill all Jews and Christians to the last one.” On Hamas’ children’s television programs, they repeatedly teach — sometimes through a Mickey Mouse lookalike — that the organization’s ultimate vision is “the extermination of all Jews.”
Everywhere jihadist movements take root, the outcome is destruction and bloodshed. Israel is not committing genocide; Israel is trying to prevent the genocide Hamas openly declares.
Fathi Hammad, a senior Hamas leader, once admitted: “We use women and children as human shields.” Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s former leader, said: “We need the blood of women, children and the elderly.” These are not misquotes; they are Hamas’s stated policies.
And Israel regrets deeply that civilians are harmed — but they are harmed because of Hamas, not Israel. According to UN data, Hamas steals most of the humanitarian aid, including food, entering Gaza. The moment Hamas frees the hostages and releases Palestinians from its oppressive, murderous rule, the war will end.
We are certain you didn’t know these facts. After all, you see yourselves as human rights activists, champions of freedom and opponents of imperialism. But Hamas and other jihadist groups represent the very opposite: Islamist imperialism that murders primarily Muslims who refuse to submit to its rule. Their vision is to impose strict sharia-based laws, which allow the rape of women and the total erasure of basic human rights.
Hamas leaders openly proclaim their goal of “conquering Rome and both Americas,” as part of a broader dream of bringing 510 million square kilometers (197 million square miles) of the world under their control.
To get there, they first aim to eliminate Israel — the only democracy in the Middle East actively resisting them — and then, as they themselves say, “raise the flag of Islam over the Vatican” while destroying Christianity and Christians worldwide. Is that truly the cause you want to help?
Here’s a modest proposal for the Israeli government ahead of the flotilla’s arrival, carrying dozens of boats and hundreds of so-called “useful idiots.” Before the navy intercepts them — firmly but courteously — Israel should prepare a one- or two-page leaflet explaining Hamas’ true nature: its ideology, its openly Nazi-inspired goals and its methods.
This won’t convince Greta Thunberg, nor most of those aboard — we know that. But it could still be a golden opportunity to expose their hypocrisy and embarrass them publicly. There’s no need for soldiers at this stage.
Survivors of the Nova music festival massacre, residents from Gaza border communities, families of hostages and even freed hostages themselves should board Israeli boats to meet the flotilla, armed with leaflets and their personal stories. Such a confrontation would be dramatic, perhaps impossible for the international media already aboard the flotilla to ignore.
If Israel is smart, it will send an additional boat filled with journalists departing from Israel, ensuring full coverage of the encounter. And for maximum effect, the leaflets should be printed on recycled paper, wrapped in sturdy recycled plastic and distributed with sandwiches made of organic whole wheat bread — hard to fold, hard to throw away, impossible to ignore.
Translating the leaflet into five or six languages would cost only a few thousand shekels but could yield an impact worth millions. And the content should be pushed widely across social media platforms.
The current government has made countless mistakes. But here lies a rare chance to get something right. We have a Foreign Ministry. We have a Diaspora Affairs Ministry responsible for global messaging. Perhaps, hopefully, someone there will finally rise to the occasion.