President Joe Biden is concerned about a rise in hate crimes after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and reminded us the other day that Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinian people. A lot of people corrected the president, saying that Hamas was elected to represent the Palestinian people. Hamas hasn't done much for Palestinian citizens … why is Israel pressed to provide food, water, and electricity to a country that would like to eradicate it?

New York Magazine wants us to remember what Biden told us: Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinian people — they can't be held responsible for what Hamas does.

Jonah Shepp argues:

The tendency to blame Palestinians collectively for violence against Israel is grimly relevant today, as Israel bombs the Gaza Strip once again and prepares to launch a ground invasion. When Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel from the strip on October 7, murdering over 1,000 Israelis and kidnapping over 100, there was no question that Israel would seek revenge on the militant group. As with past incursions into Gaza, Israel’s leaders have insisted that the country is at war with Hamas, not the Gazan people. The Israel Defense Forces do not, as a matter of policy, aim to kill Palestinian civilians, though it is debatable how sorry they really are when they inevitably do. This differentiates them from Hamas, which glorifies the killing of innocent Israelis (because again, in their worldview, no Israeli is innocent) and which deliberately houses its fighters and weapons in densely populated civilian areas, schools, hospitals, and mosques.

We've all seen the video of Palestinians dancing in the streets to celebrate the strike against apartheid state Israel and the Jews. As a lot of people have pointed out, you don't see any "Palestinians for Israel" signs in Gaza.

Time for Community Notes:

Readers added context they thought people might want to know

In 2006, Palestinians elected Hamas by "a huge majority" according to Al Jazeera.

In 2021, 53% of Palestinians said they believe Hamas is “most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people.”

In 2023, 57% of Gazans expressed a positive opinion of Hamas.

That's almost the percentage of university students who've expressed a positive opinion of Hamas.

They're all so afraid of a "disproportionate" response from Israel, when that's exactly what they should be afraid of. Tell Hamas to give up its hostages and surrender.