No Peace Without Palestinian De-Radicalization

On Aug. 27, President Trump convened a White House meeting with top aides and Israeli representatives, including Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, to discuss a post-war plan for Gaza. Details are not available as of this writing.

But one thing is clear: Palestinian political, cultural, and social life — in both Gaza and the West Bank — is saturated with doctrine glorifying Jew-hatred, jihad, and martyrdom.

If Gaza reconstruction is to lead to genuine peace, it must go far beyond demilitarization and rebuilding infrastructure.

It must dismantle the ideology that fuels the violence.

Rebuilding Gaza and working towards Palestinian-Israeli peace without de-radicalizing Palestinian society is like laying bricks on sand — collapse is inevitable.

For decades, Western leaders have clung to the illusion that peace hinges on borders, settlements, or statehood.

From the 1947 UN Partition Plan to Trump’s "Deal of the Century," Israel has repeatedly accepted generous two-state proposals. Palestinians have rejected them all. Why? Because their goal isn’t a state alongside Israel, but one in place of Israel — "From the River to the Sea."

This conflict isn't territorial. It's theological. For most Palestinians, it's a religious duty to annihilate the Jewish state and the Jews themselves.

Hamas was established in 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist terror movement whose founder, Hassan al-Banna, declared: “It is the nature of Islam to dominate . . . to impose its law on all nations and . . . its power to the entire planet.”

The 1988 Hamas Covenant defines its mission:

• “Israel will exist until Islam obliterates it.”
• “The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, killing the Jews….”
• “Jihad is its path, and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.”

The Covenant calls for the obliteration of Israel, defines all of Palestine — including Israel— as an Islamic endowment, brands Jews as the source of all evil, and demands every Muslim wage jihad as martyrs until a global caliphate rules under Sharia law.

Judgment Day, it declares, will not arrive until the Jews are slaughtered and Islam dominates the earth.

In 2006, the UN called this Hamas charter an "ideology of Jihad," sanctifying terrorism and suicide bombers.

Hamas is an apocalyptic death cult, elevating extermination as divine duty.

The so-called "moderate" Palestinian Authority (PA) is no antidote.

The Constitution of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party demands the "complete liberation of Palestine" and eradication of Zionism "politically, economically, militarily and culturally."

Abbas himself has described the conflict as a religious "war for Allah" and vowed never to recognize the Jewish state.

In Arabic, the PA preaches elimination; in English, it markets peace.

Indoctrination begins at birth.

• Hamas and PA summer camps train children with knives and rifles while blending jihad indoctrination with sports — similar to Hitler Youth.
• Children’s TV shows feature characters like Mickey Mouse lookalikes urging them to kill Jews.
• PA and Hamas textbooks glorify "martyrs," praise terrorism, demonize Jews and incite violence.
• Palestinian television hails terrorists as heroes.
• Town squares and schools are named after killers.

• The PA’s "pay for slay" program compensates terrorism.
• Imams deny Israel's right to exist.

This explains why on Oct. 7, 2023, thousands of Gazans joined the slaughter, looting and hostage-taking. Radicalization is not fringe — it's mainstream.

Western leaders keep hoping for a "silent majority" of peace-minded Palestinians.

A recent Palestinian poll in Gaza and the West Bank—conducted after nearly two years of war — shows otherwise:

• 87% deny Hamas committed atrocities on Oct. 7.
• 50% say the massacre was the right decision.
• 57% are satisfied with Hamas’s performance — versus the PA.

• If elections were held now, convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti, serving five life sentences, would win.
• Four in ten, a plurality, favor armed struggle to create a Palestinian state.
• A majority opposes Hamas’s disarmament or departure of its military leadership.
• 32%, a plurality, want Hamas to lead them.

Ron Dermer put it bluntly: "For over 30 years, the Palestinians have systematically poisoned a generation and a half. Who are the heroes of 15-year-old Palestinians? They're all people that murdered Jews. You have to link reconstruction in Gaza to de-radicalization."

He's right.

History offers a model. After World War II, the Allies understood that peace required more than military victory — it required ideological transformation.

In Germany, de-Nazification meant firing Nazi teachers, revising schoolbooks, banning propaganda in media, books, and politics, and teaching the truth about the Holocaust.

In Japan, ultranationalist groups and emperor-worship were dismantled, and education was rebuilt around civic values.

Two murderous societies became peaceful democracies.

Some Muslim-majority countries have taken steps in this direction. Saudi Arabia has curbed extremist preaching. Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia emphasize religious and education reform.

De-radicalization will take decades — but without it, peace is impossible.

In Gaza and the West Bank, that means:

• Purging Jew-hatred from schools.
• Ending jihad indoctrination and payments for terror.
• Shutting down camps that train children to kill.
• Encouraging independent media free of incitement.
• Eliminating terror groups and delegitimizing extremist leaders.
• Building rule of law and civil society institutions.

And that is only the beginning.

Until Palestinians undergo an ideological transformation—accepting Israel's right to exist— peace will remain a mirage. The obstacle isn't borders, settlements, or statehood.

The obstacle is the Palestinian culture of jihad and martyrdom.

Unless it's dismantled root and branch — in schools, mosques, media, and politics — every "peace process" will be nothing more than a prelude to the next war.

Ziva Dahl is a senior fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center. Ziva writes and lectures about U.S.-Israel relations, U.S. foreign policy, Israel, Zionism, Antisemitism and BDS on college campuses. Her articles have appeared in such publications as The Hill, New York Daily News, New York Observer, The Washington Times, American Spectator, American Thinker and Jerusalem Post. Read Ziva Dahl's Reports — More Here.