Recognition of Palestine? Then You Recognize Terror
By Vince van Holstein

While Israeli hostages are still being held in Gaza, more and more Western countries are deciding to recognize the Palestinian state. A “historic moment,” they call it. A step toward peace.
But let’s be honest: you don’t achieve peace by bowing to violence — and certainly not by rewarding a terrorist organization like Hamas.

Hamas is not defeated. They rule Gaza with an iron fist, hide in hospitals, fire rockets from schoolyards, and use their own people as human shields. These are the people who should speak on behalf of “Palestine”?

Recognizing Palestine now is like giving Al-Qaeda a seat at the UN after 9/11. Absurd? Absolutely. But that’s exactly what’s happening.

And then we talk about a two-state solution, while one of those “states” doesn’t even want the other to exist? Israel has existed for over 75 years. Hamas still wants to wipe it off the map. Yet European leaders think it’s appropriate to grant this group political legitimacy.

It’s not only morally bankrupt — it’s strategically stupid. You put pressure on Israel precisely when it’s trying to protect its citizens. You ignore the families of the hostages. And you send a dangerous message to the world: if you use enough violence, you’ll eventually be rewarded.

Do we really want to create a new state where terrorism works as a negotiation tactic? Led by an extremist organization that seeks not peace, but destruction?

Peace starts with principles. And one of them is simple: no rewards for terror.