You don’t need to like it, but these are the true intentions of Hamas

Masks or blindfolds: We're wearing one or the other.

Somebody has painted the Star of David on apartment buildings to mark them as Jewish places. This is Paris, not in 1939 or ’40. This is today. People are going around marking Jewish businesses and Jewish buildings all over Paris.

Could you imagine being a Jewish person in Paris and waking up to see one of these on your doorpost?

Well, that would make me feel uncomfortable.

Sometimes the mask slips on the bad guys, and we're seeing this an awful lot in the past month. I want to tell you a story about Ahed Tamimi. This curly-haired blonde, rosy-cheeked 20-something was a Palestinian activist who was jailed for a few months for hitting and abusing Israeli soldiers. This was a photogenic media martyrdom. She immediately was portrayed as a loving, peaceful Palestinian person. The media turned her into a worldwide freedom fighter and political prisoner who just wanted peace.

Well, she let her mask down just a little bit this month. She posted this about the Jews on her social media: “We will slaughter you. And you will say what Hitler did to you, was a joke. We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on! We're waiting for you.”

So why does the mask slip? And why do we ignore it? Does the mask slip because of arrogance or pride? The sudden inability to contain the glee? The deep-seated desire to proclaim the full extent of their true goals for the whole world to hear and be in awe of? I think that's what it usually is: just arrogance and pride. They want to take their masks off.

Hamas says protecting civilians is for the UN and Israel

Do you remember on 9/11 the images of the Palestinians dancing in the streets? The rest of the world was lighting candles. They were passing out candy. For a minute, the world again glimpsed the true face of Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. Hamas leader Abu Marzook explained the other day why Gaza's resources had been used to build a network of terror tunnels instead of bomb shelters to protect civilians.

On TV, he was asked why he built 500 kilometers of tunnels but not a single bomb shelter. He explained that the tunnels were meant to protect the Hamas fighters under the civilians who are up on the surface. Protecting civilians, he said, was the responsibility of the United Nations and Israel. Not Hamas. That's from the party that has had absolute rule of Gaza since 2006.

It is important to recognize every time the masks slip — because this evil is knitted together. They don't necessarily have everything in common between all of these groups. But they do have the shared desire for the destruction of the Western way of life, the traditional family, Jews, and Christians.

Seeking ways to make the masses comply

Even more normal is when the mask slips from our political elites: when then-Vice President Joe Biden used blackmail to get a Ukrainian prosecutor off the backs of his son's friends, or when George Soros explains on “60 Minutes” that he topples economies for fun, or when the World Economic Forum lets you know in an ad that you’ll own nothing and be happy. They announce that you're going to be a modern-day serf, dependent on those who own it all — and you better like it.

The elites always let you know that yes, they do think they know better, and the task at hand is to find the most convenient way to make the masses comply. That's important. The elites are always looking for ways to make the masses comply.

Many times, of course, the mask was never on in the first place. Some are never shy about telling you exactly about their intent. For instance, Hitler published it all in a book. It was in a book, for Pete's sake. If you ever read it — I recommend you do — you will know exactly that the Germans knew everything that Hitler was going to do. Now, maybe the Germans were using their blindfold because Hitler was maskless and they didn't want to see all of those warts.

The Hamas charter is clear about genocide

Iran is pretty unambiguous about its highest ideals. Death to Israel. Death to America. There's relatively little room for interpretation there, even if you believe that jihad means "struggle for personal benefit." It might mean that to a few Muslim friends of mine, but I can tell you in Iran with the current leadership, it certainly doesn't. Their latest proxy is the Houthis in Yemen. Their motto: "A curse on Jews." That's their motto. " A curse on Jews." Where's the room for interpretation there?

ISIS also never pretended it was anything other than what it was. In Hamas' case, their charter is out on the internet for anyone to read. The charter is clear about what Hamas thinks the solution to the Palestinian-Arab conflict should be: genocide. There's not a mask in sight. So for the people who are wearing masks — when they slip, we fail to see it. When they're not wearing masks, we wear blindfolds. We refuse to see it. How? Why?

Peace with genocidal maniacs?

From the height of our enlightened intellectual arrogance, we pretend to know better than the people who are talking to us about what they are going to do. We think we know better. We think we know how they think better than themselves. That's how we can pretend that we could have peace with genocidal maniacs. Terror groups. If they would just be willing to talk things over tea and crumpets, we could arrive at peace. What a delusion.

Hamas, Iran, and any other terrorist organization are not even willing to pretend in engaging the same process that we do. We think we know better, and if they don't catch on, they better do so quickly. We think that the hearts of all people want the same thing. They just want to go about their business and raise their kids in peace. Given the chance, all of us would choose life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, right?

No! That's not true. We forget the West is unique in history. When we say these were inalienable truths that were self-evident, they were only self-evident because they were first taught for 40 years in the pulpits of America.

We forget the West is unique in history

The value to be placed on an individual — an individual human right, an individual freedom, an individual choice — that's unique. The thought that the other side may not cherish the same values, that they may not want what we want, is uncomfortable, frightening, and inconvenient. And because we're protected by oceans between us, we just don't believe that people could think any other way. It means we don't know it all. We don't understand everything. It means we may not have an easy or convenient solution. Because reality is messy. And we need to wake up to that. Life is hard. But it is worth it. Wake up. Grow up. Grab a good strong dose of intellectual and spiritual humility.

I don't want war. And I don't want war of all against all. But we should not be so naïve as to think that what's under the mask, what they tell us in their own words, is somehow less true than what we think should be true — or wish should be true. Not all problems have easy solutions. Not everybody wants the thing that we think they should want. Not everybody agrees with us, nor will they agree with us if we could just sit down and talk long enough.

Not all problems have easy solutions

Almost 50% of Americans no longer believe in the freedom of political speech. How many Americans would be willing to go door to door to take their neighbors' guns if they were just empowered to?

Here in the country built on justice for all — blind justice — we are willing to turn a blind eye to massive corruption of our legal system. Why? Political reasons. How can we know that everyone wants the same thing on the other side of the planet when we're just learning in very dangerous ways that many of our fellow Americans no longer see a place for our own country in the world?

Want more from Glenn Beck? Get Glenn's FREE email newsletter with his latest insights, top stories, show prep, and more delivered to your inbox.