Such resilient support for the Pro-Palestinian agenda from the academic and liberal minds of my generation has me not only worried, mainly well because I am part of it, but also confused due to the fact that it intrinsically ends up supporting actions and roles that are anti-Palestinian in nature. I often wonder why these great analytical thinkers and politically engaged peers quickly side with the Pro-Palestinian agenda as if it is hip or the-cool-thing-to-do. The policies of the Palestinian leadership have time and time again restricted their people’s ability to move forward towards opportunity and liberty.

So-called Pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the world’s largest cities have hosted violent burnings of Israeli flags, intimidating chants of Zionists being pigs, and the harassing of synagogues and Jewish owned stores in cities like Paris and Antwerp. To say the least, these Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have turned anti-Semitic. Continued support for the current manifestation of the Pro-Palestinian movement will only inhibit or even prohibit a future peace deal and this is why.

Pro-Palestinian has sadly become synonymous with anti-Israel and I intend to define a new path for what Pro-Palestinian should mean and how one can best express it—by being Pro-Israel. In truth, being Pro-Israel is inherently being Pro-Palestinian. The Israeli government has done more for the people of Gaza than the Palestinian authorities have ever done. Greenhouses, schools, media centers, and parks were all left behind when Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza with hope of a near peace (only to welcome rockets on the daily). Minutes after, these resources intended for use by the Palestinian people to learn and work were vandalized, destroyed, and then used as artillery caches for terrorist headquarters. Later followed a violent thug style war between Fatah and Hamas members to see who would dominate the political scene of the strip; all ignoring the innocent and humane cries of the people who just want to live a normal life like the 1 ½ million Arabs in Israel.

Being Pro-Palestinian and shunning support for Israel will only fuel the continued abuse of the Palestinians by their government. If you really support the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people and their basic political, social, and economic rights you would be Pro-Israel. Israel’s military efforts to demilitarize Hamas, destroy underground tunnel systems, and level homes that are used to plan and centralize their terrorist efforts will only enable the Palestinian people towards a path of freedom and liberty from the chains and bars their leaders have imposed on them.

As the only democracy in the Middle East and the only country in the region that grants all Arabs, Muslim or Christian equal rights, Israel is consistently singled out for its attempt of freeing the Palestinians from their society that applauds martyrdom, their leadership that urges them to defend their homes from rockets with their chests, and their parents that brainwash them to hating Jews and strapping explosives to their bodies.

Sure, the numbers are astonishing and easily misleading my peers and others to pick sides. The total death count has well passed 600 Palestinians, however the blame is being placed erroneously. It is the democratically elected Hamas government currently in a political marriage with the Palestinian Authority of the disputed territories of Judaea and Samaria that is using their innocent civilians as political pawns to win over support from the international community. Consistently we have seen the High Court of Human Rights issue violations against the defensive efforts of the IDF. Various ways of warning the Palestinian people in Gaza of upcoming attacks have been used by the Israeli government and military such as leaflets, text messages, and phone calls. I don’t remember the last time Gaza warned Israeli’s of incoming rockets nor will they ever.

If we continue to support the current form of being Pro-Palestinian, we are destined for a cloudy future with very little change of the present situation. Being Pro-Israel is truly being Pro-Palestinian and should be the new way of expressing concern and care for the Palestinians. The current way of manifesting Pro-Palestinian sentiment will only impede what the very academics and liberals fight for—Peace. We need to demand a change in the definition of what it means to be Pro-Palestinian because Pro-Israel is synonymous with a bright future for all.