An open letter to Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

Ahmed, 

I read your recent post, and I have to start by saying that I agree with you on much of what you wrote. There is clearly a level of hatred in the actions of some individuals in the IDF, and that hatred exists at more than just the level of the foot soldiers. It also exists in some of the leadership.  

Deadly hatred? How can Israeli military actions be so precise and targeted in Iran and Lebanon, but so devastatingly and unnecessarily massive, destructive, large-scale, and exceptionally deadly in Gaza? That is a question that many have been asking for days after Israel’s…

— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) June 27, 2025

However, I also have an honest question to ask. 

Humanly speaking, how do you expect Israelis to view the Palestinian population? 

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of videos showing Palestinian women praising their children for dying as martyrs; showing Palestinians sharing sweets when Israeli civilians, including children, are killed in attacks; there are textbooks praise the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel; and many of the religious leaders say that killing Jews is “holy”, and that the ultimate victory of Islam cannot come until the Jews are killed. 

How should the greater majority of the Israeli public, which does want to live in peace, think of their Palestinian neighbors, seeing those facts, and seeing no meaningful attempt to counter them from within the Palestinian society?  

It’s an honest question. I have talked to Jews who have expressed racist views towards Arabs, and some of them admit that this is probably against the values of Judaism, especially those found in the Torah and the Prophets. 

However, major parks and intersections in Ramallah, Azariya, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, etc. have been named after people carrying out terror attacks against Israeli civilians, and most of the Palestinian population sees no problem with this. I have seen multiple video interviews done in Ramallah and Nablus, where Palestinians freely declare, without any embarrassment, that Jews are less human than Arabs, or that they are the descendants of monkeys and pigs, as taught in Islamic texts. 

While not perfect, the IDF has a policy of investigating and punishing soldiers found carrying out violent acts of hate towards Palestinians. Could the IDF do a better job? YES! But where is the reciprocal action and attitude on the Palestinian side? 

Until Israelis see an Arab & Palestinian move to reject hateful rhetoric, and to value Jewish life as being equally sacred, it will be hard to ask them to bear the greater burden of upholding human rights for those who declare that they would like to kill Jews. 

The Palestinian conscience ignores or denies the 2,300 year history of antisemitism. When I have tried to talk with some of my Palestinian or even some Israeli Arab friends about this history, they usually try to deny it at first, but after being confronted with historical evidence, they often try to say that the Jews must have deserved it. 

There is literally no other group of people in the history of the world who has faced the ethnic hatred that the Jews have faced for so long. That history has taught them that they have no true friends in the world, and that any leader, nation, or people expressing support for them is either not to be trusted, or the support will only be temporary. 

There is no group of people in history who has been so systematically persecuted for their mere existence. 

Yet, the whole world, who does not understand the deeply imbedded fear of another pogrom, another massacre, another Holocaust, tells Israel and its Jewish population, that it must make peace with a culture that denies its humanity, calls for its death, and has been working to achieve that for the last 78 years. 

While there are many peace organizations on the Israeli side, most Israelis don’t know of any such organizations on the other side of the security fence. 

I don’t write these things to accuse you of any ulterior motives, because I respect your work. I simply ask, what do you expect Israeli Jews to do? 

Frankly, having seen some of these textbooks, listened to some of the Friday sermons, watched the video testimonies of mothers and fathers cheering their sons’ deaths as martyrs and heroes, and watching how common people on the streets of Palestinian towns and cities hand out treats to celebrate the death of Jews “al-Yahud”; I’m honestly surprised that more Jews don’t hate Palestinians. I’m surprised that so many Jews, including some who live in Judea and Samaria, still look for, hope for, pray for, and work for peace with the Palestinians. 

My children attended two different schools in the Israeli school system. Neither of those schools ever had textbooks in which there was anti-Arab content. If schoolmates expressed anti-Arab sentiment in the hearing of the teachers, the teachers were quick to say that such talk is not acceptable at school. 

I am not trying to stir up hatred for the Palestinian people. I have Palestinian friends, Bedouin friends, and Israeli Arab friends. I feel their pain at being always distrusted, always viewed with suspicion, always viewed as “likely a terrorist.” 

I simply ask of any Palestinian who truly desires peace between Jews and Arabs in the land, what are you willing to do to achieve this peace? How do you think you can convince your Israeli Jewish neighbors that a sufficient group of Palestinians desire peace and reject violence? 

The change in both sides must come from within. There are many Jews and Jewish organizations calling for equal rights for Arabs and better treatment of the Palestinians. Where are the parallel organizations on the Palestinian side? 

I address you, as a representative of the Palestinian community, because you are the only ones who can make the change on the Palestinian side. 

If you truly desire peace with the Jews, and the chance to live side by side in the same land, you will have to convince the Israeli public that you exist, and exist in sufficient numbers to make a difference in the Palestinian society. 

Because this is an open letter, and because I have followed your online writings and activities with respect and admiration for a couple years, I will also post your response to my letter. 

I have no doubt of your personal desire for peace, your rejection of violence and hatred, and your personal actions to reach out to the Israeli community (including visiting hostage families), I have watched those with great respect. 

You have received hateful messages from Arabs, Jews, and uninformed Westerners, and yet, you have continued to pursue peace and understanding. 

I address you because I believe you are honest in your pursuit of peace between the two sides. Having lived here for many years, and having friends on both sides, I can honestly say that I have heard these questions from my Jewish friends on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, I have more often encountered a willingness to try to understand the other person’s perspective from Israeli Jews than from Palestinian or Israeli Arabs. That could just be my experience, but I have spoken with other outsiders who have expressed the same experience. 

As someone who longs for peace between Jews and Arabs here in the Land, I ask these questions not as a rhetorical device, but honestly. Peace is not a ceasefire; it involves mutual respect and understanding. Peace doesn’t have to mean total agreement, but peace cannot coexist with hate. 

From this outsider’s perspective, albeit one who has lived here many years, the institutionalized hatred appears to be greater on one side than the other. 

That will have to be overcome if there is to be peace. Most Israelis I have talked to are tired of waiting for a necessary condition which the other side does not seem interested in meeting. 

When I told an Israeli friend recently that I was excited to hear that the UAE might be taking part in a “Day After” program in Gaza, because the UAE cleaned up their educational curriculum several years ago to remove antisemitism, she asked me, “Do you think Palestinians want to change their curriculum?” 

She also complimented me on my idealism, saying she wished she could also be so optimistic. 

This is a person who would like peace with the Palestinians, but said she doesn’t see any meaningful desire for peace on the other side. 

So I ask you, honestly, what do you think will need to be done to convince her and those like her? 

Respectfully, 

J. Micah Hancock