Palestinian self-genocide
10 December 2025
I am a genuine friend of the Palestinian people. I want Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere to live long, healthy lives, and I am working hard to support the development of a prosperous and peaceful Palestinian nation. But real friendship does not mean excusing harmful behavior. Too many “so called” progressives do exactly that. In my view, Palestinians will remain politically doomed in the Middle East until they abandon what I call their “self-genocide”.
Suicide by cop describes an individual who intentionally behaves in a threatening way to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement. It is motivated not only by depression but by impulsivity, psychosis, acute stress or a desire to provoke violence or notoriety.
Palestinian political strategy has shown a tragic parallel. Too often, Palestinian leaders and institutions provoke Israel in ways that predictably lead to devastating Palestinian casualties. This pattern, which I call self-genocide, has shaped their politics for decades.
When Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas, fully aware that Hamas launches attacks intended to trigger massive Israeli retaliation, that was self-genocide.
When Palestinians in Gaza permit armed groups to operate freely among neighborhoods, mosques, schools and hospitals, ensuring that any response to terrorism will kill civilians, that is self-genocide.
When the Palestinian government diverts essential aid to build weapons, tunnels and provide payments to militants instead of supporting daily life and safety, that is self-genocide.
The war that began on 7 October 2023 was the clearest example of self-genocide. Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis, many at a music festival, and kidnapped more than 200 hostages. Hamas leadership openly indicated they desired mass Palestinian martyrdom. They knew Israel would be forced to respond forcefully to stop the attacks and recover the hostages. This was a political and humanitarian catastrophe by design and a clear example of self-genocide.
Palestinian leaders, including Michigan’s own Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, along with Palestinians and their supporters in the United States and elsewhere, applied little pressure on Hamas to release the hostages or to stop attacking Israel. Their silence prolonged the war for two years and enabled further self-genocide.
The purpose of this destructive strategy is to maintain hatred of Israel and to weaponize Palestinian suffering. Slogans such as “from the river to the sea”, “globalize the intifada,” and even “we only want to go home” reflect a desire to eliminate Israel, even if some Palestinians would be content with Israelis just walking away.
Genocide is commonly defined as “the deliberate killing or persecution of a large number of people from a national or ethnic group with the intent to destroy that group.” Of course, most Palestinians do not want to destroy their own people. Yet there is broad support, or at least tolerance, for decisions that predictably lead to large scale Palestinian deaths.
For 77 years, Palestinians have been trapped in this cycle, which has caused the deaths of perhaps 100,000 Palestinians.
What might inspire Palestinians to end this self-destructive behavior?
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