Why Aren’t We Exposing More Palestinian Hate Against America?

I don’t know why National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) chose Sept. 12 as its “Day of Action” and indirectly encouraged thousands of students in the United States to continue to destroy campus property and express solidarity with terrorist groups. Perhaps the organization thought it would be vulgar and insensitive to promote more hate and violence on the 23rd anniversary of the worst terror attacks against a country it calls “the American empire” (never mind that these SJP members live in the U.S. and enjoy the kind of freedom and human rights they would never know in most Middle Eastern countries). “Let’s not call America a disgusting, imperialist, genocide-enabler for one day,” they must have figured, while refusing to condemn the fanaticized Islamists who have unleashed untold cruelty against innocents worldwide. 

NSJP had been promoting its “Day of Action” for weeks and recently tweeted a flier featuring a young man whose face, except for his eyes, was entirely covered in a red Palestinian keffiyeh. A slogan, “We will not stop. We will not rest,” appeared under the man’s image as part of NSJP’s extremely well-coordinated and, let’s face it, well-funded campaign to continue what it calls a full-scale “student intifada.”

I was thinking about Palestinians a lot lately as I contemplated the anniversary of 9/11 last week. As a college freshman in September 2001, I was old enough that I can remember the horrifying videos of Palestinians celebrating the news that thousands of Americans had been slaughtered. Hijab-clad women ululated; families passed out sweets and candy. The most disturbing videos weren’t from the West Bank, but of many Palestinians cheering and hugging one another at the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem. I’ll also never forget how Palestinian (and Arab) media refused to identify the 9/11 perpetrators as either Arab or Muslim until days after the attack, and how official Palestinian Authority media outlets published one cartoon after another cruelly mocking America and portraying all Arabs as victims. 

I have also been thinking a lot lately about the primary messages that American Jews and Jewish organizations have been conveying the past 11 months. These messages have mainly focused on how Hamas has brutalized Jews and Israelis. This was understandable, the right course of action.

But soft-hearted as we are, we have also spent all year assuming that most Americans would be horrified, or at least rattled, by the barbarism of Hamas, and hopefully moved to act in solidarity with Jewish Americans. 

I now realize the limits of our approach: Whether through viral videos, survivor testimonials or even touring exhibitions dedicated to Oct. 7, we thought it would somehow be enough to remind Americans how much most Palestinians hate Jews and Israel. Instead, we should have taken every chance to remind Americans how virulently many Palestinians hate America. 

Perhaps that sounds harsh. But as we continue to let Palestinian antisemitism speak for itself, why haven’t we made more space for Palestinian anti-Americanism to speak for itself?

In some cases, we didn’t need to do much work; images this year of people climbing flagpoles to replace an American flag with a Palestinian one easily speak for themselves. But how many Americans have even seen such videos of American flags being replaced on campuses and in cities all over this country?

To be fair, we have repeatedly warned Americans all year that Israel is the first target of brainwashed, violent fanatics, but not the last. Our warnings that “America is next” have gained more traction than ever. Again, rallies in the U.S. at which cries of “Death to America” are heard, as we saw this year in Michigan, make it a little easier to see the bigger, looming picture, but I doubt most Americans have seen such videos. 

I have watched several excellent videos this year by pro-Israel social media activists that show interviews with Palestinians in the West Bank who are asked to share their views on everything from whether they support Hamas to whether they believe Hamas raped Israeli women on Oct. 7. Not surprisingly, the responses are revolting. But these questions often only highlight the hatred of many Palestinians against Jews and Israelis. 

Where are the videos that ask average Palestinians what they think about gay marriage, rights for trans people, mixed-sex beaches where women may sunbathe in bikinis, or even the simple question of what most Palestinians think about America? I surmise that America has never been more unpopular with Palestinians than it is today, due to its support for Israel in this year-long war. But 22 years before this war erupted, why were Palestinians jubilantly celebrating 9/11?

And I’m still searching in vain for videos in which Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem (or that bastion of secular reformism known as Ramallah) are asked what they think of the 9/11 attacks today. Did Americans deserve 9/11? Do they wish there would be another 9/11, or that Oct. 7 would be replicated in the U.S.? And, out of curiosity, where’s the leftover stash of celebratory candy from Oct. 7?

Twenty-three years later, chances are that most young Americans have never seen those unbelievable images of Palestinians rejoicing over 9/11. And over two decades later, chances are that some young Americans, for whom America is the bastion of all capitalist and imperialist sin, won’t bat an eye if they’re exposed to those videos. They will simply rationalize celebrating terror as a justified response to their favorite buzzwords, “occupation,” “imperialism” and “genocide.”

But a minority of irreparably-brainwashed college students are not the target audience I had in mind to learn more about Palestinian anti-Americanism (please visit Palestinian Media Watch for shocking documentation of the messages emanating from Palestinian newsrooms and classrooms). These deeply short-sighted individuals already hate America, even as they enjoy the freedoms of this country to their full extent. Though, while we’re at it, we should film videos in which we ask some of these students in the U.S. if there should be another 9/11. I think we can all imagine the shocking responses. 

This year, let’s work doubly hard to expose those who truly revile America, but are indescribably blessed to live in this extraordinary country, where they use their freedom of speech to kill our freedom of speech.

This year, let’s work doubly hard to expose those who truly revile America, but are indescribably blessed to live in this extraordinary country, where they use their freedom of speech to kill our freedom of speech.

The most important audience I had in mind is comprised of average, hard-working Americans who still like this country, and whose desire to live in peace and safety would enable them to better understand that Israel, and the Jewish people themselves, represent Western values, the kind of values that make it safe to enjoy life in this country.

According to MEMRI.org, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works around-the-clock to translate Arabic, Persian, Dari, Turkish, Urdu-Pashto, Russian and Chinese media, Al-Qaeda has threatened a “third 9/11” (counting Oct. 7) and is actively encouraging pro-Palestinian protesters in America to carry out violent attacks. An Oct. 13 Al-Qaeda statement celebrated Hamas’ massacre as a “blessed battle” that had changed jihad and “the rules of combat,” adding that Israel’s “encroachment” on Al-Aqsa will ensure that “the coming flood of Islamic heroes will make the Zionists and the Crusaders forget the horrors” of 9/11.

No, we will never forget. 

In the statement, Al-Qaeda exhorted Muslims worldwide to attack America and other countries: “Now that the mujahideen of Palestine have mobilized the entire nation to participate in their blessed jihad, there is no excuse for anyone to claim that the battle is only within Palestine itself …” 

There is a reason why the only memorial outside of the U.S. that lists all the names of the 2,996 victims of 9/11 exists in Israel — at the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem, to be exact. During last week’s annual 9/11 remembrance event in Jerusalem, IDF soldiers with developmental disabilities, who comprise The Special in Uniform Band, sang “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Please look up the video and remember that in other parts of the Middle East, there are vastly different tunes being dedicated to America.

There is also a reason why there is a plaque at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum, that reads, “Unto every person there is a name.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters in the U.S. who assault Jews and march with Hamas and Hezbollah flags don’t want you to know their names, nor recognize their faces. Perhaps we can’t change that. But 30 seconds of film exposing how many of those yelling “Long Live Palestine” also scream “Death to America,” whether in Jenin or Berkeley, would be a good reminder to the average American that many of those who relentlessly hate Jews and Israel reserve their biggest hatred for this wondrous country. And the sooner the average American realizes there isn’t a single American flag at pro-Palestinian rallies, the better.

Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on X and Instagram @TabbyRefael.