Not only is it only possible to believe this if you have no idea of what the situation was in Gaza in 2006 (and have made no attempt to find out beyond skim-reading Israeli propaganda), not only does it suggest that you know nothing about the restrictions the Israelis placed on Gaza even before the blockade or understand WHY Israel withdrew (I cover that here), but it also requires that you think your priority, after decades of brutality and injustice from Israel, would be proving to them that you're "not a threat."

If you want to criticise Hamas, welcome to the club. I've been doing so for, well, almost a year now. But you are not even attempting to understand what the Palestinians have been through if you think this is an empathetic summary of their situation.

This, ultimately, is the problem. Over and over again, I see people arguing their little hearts out about this conflict, but they don't know the first thing about it. They've never even tried to look at it objectively. They've never once really considered the Palestinian perspective or, topically enough, asked themselves how they'd feel if they were in the Palestinians' position, and then they get offended when I point that out.

Even here, you've started your analysis in 2006, jumped forward to 2023, and considered nothing that happened in between or before. Why? Because it's only through this incredibly selective focus that you can support the narrative that you want to support and suggest that if you'd been though everything the Palestinians have, you'd be focused on hating Hamas and trying to prove yourself worthy to the Israelis, who, I remind you, are the entire reason you were in Gaza in the first place.

I'm sorry, it's impossible to take this seriously.