Less than a year ago, Hamas perpetrated the single biggest mass-murder of Jewish people since the Holocaust.

In a military operation the terrorists dubbed “Al-Aqsa Flood,” Hamas fighters killed and mutilated 1,200 people and kidnapped some 250 more. Nine months later, 130 of these hostages remain in Hamas’ custody. Israeli Defense Forces believe only 100 are alive.

For a society hyper-focused on human rights, many Americans seemed sympathetic, not to Israel, but to Hamas.

Summit Ministry’s Dr. Jeff Myers blames this bizarre phenomenon on a combination of ignorance, toxic ideology and Hamas propaganda. He hopes to illuminate truth in his new book, Should Christians Support Israel?

Myers decodes Hamas propaganda, identifying lies it wants you to believe — and why you shouldn’t.

Here’s six of Myers’ best myth-busting moments.

Palestine has never been a country. Between the break-up of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900’s and the end of World War II in 1945, Palestine was a British-ruled colony.

When the colonial age ended after World War II, the colonial Middle East divided into countries: Lebanon in 1943, Syria in 1944, Jordan in 1946, Egypt in 1947 and Israel in 1948. As a concession to the Arab separatist movement, the U.N. initially tried to separate Israel into two states — one for Jews and one for Arabs. The separatists rejected this partition plan (p. 63-64).

If antiquity is the rightful mark of ownership, as some Hamas supporters suggest, only Israel has a right to be in the area. “The Jews are the only people to have ever established a nation state in the disputed land,” Myers writes, “and they did so more than 3,000 years ago.”

Israel’s kingdom ended when Jerusalem fell to Rome in 70 A.D.

Some people, particularly American college students, believe IDF troops are “occupying” Gaza. In reality, Israel “evicted Gaza’s Jewish residents, bulldozed their homes and withdrew its military presence,” in 2005.

Israel does prevent military equipment from being delivered to Gaza, but only to prevent Hamas — which took over Gaza politically and militarily in 2006 and 2007, respectively — from attacking it (p. 65).

Unlike college students, Hamas accuses Israel of “occupying” their land. The terror group’s charter reads in part:

There are multiple problems with accusations of genocide. For one, Israel takes fewer lives in war than geographically comparably countries. Syria killed 1.2 million people between 2021 and 2023 — more than twenty times as many Palestinians who have died in wars with Israel since 1948 (p. 30).

Myers further cites John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point, who writes in the New York Post:

Israel also provides significant aid to Gazans in need, including water, fuel, preparations for winter and medical care.

A Columbia University report found Israel gave 290,000 tons of food to Gaza between October 2023 and April 2024 — enough to meet 50% of the population’s need (p. 96).

These are not the actions of a nation interested in decimating another people group.

Hamas justifies its violence against Israel by claiming Israel oppresses Palestinians and other Muslims. Its charter reads:

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. The freedoms it offers lend themselves to a diverse population.

“In Israel, there are migrants from 103 countries speaking 82 different languages,” Myers writes. “It’s the only nation in the region where women are equal to men and where people can live in freedom regardless of their religion, political beliefs or sexual orientation” (p. 34).

Hamas dedicates all resources to war, preventing Gaza from developing socially or economically.

When Hamas took control of the country, for instance, Israel had already agreed to a two-state solution. The group received funding from Iran and Qatar, while Gaza recieved a whopping $35 billion in foreign aid.

They had everything going for them, writes Myers — but they threw it away for war (p. 69):

This lack of concern for Gazans extends beyond this episode. Myers cites reporting putting the combined net worth of Hamas’ top leaders somewhere around $11 billion. Soldiers aspire to this wealth by levying a 20-25% tax on all good shipped to Gaza, according to the McKenzie Institute (p. 77).

Hamas also inflicts physical harm on those who don’t fall into line.

Human Rights Watch admits Hamas systematically mistreats and tortures Palestinians in detention (p. 73). It notoriously uses human shields to prevent Israeli attacks. When strikes inevitably rack up civilian casualties, Hamas uses it to garner sympathy from foreign nations (p.88).

Hamas’ charter demands Israel’s elimination and authorizes “all methods and means” to destroy it.

Ghazi Hamad, one of the organization’s political leaders, told a Lebanese TV show in October it would repeat the attack on Israel “again and again” until Israel’s extinction:

A fast, engaging read, Should Christians Support Israel? dispels myths with compassion, unflinchingly tackles hard questions with care for nuance and helps Christians to engage the issue critically and biblically.

It is a must-read for anyone scratching their head about the Israel/Hamas war.

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Jewish Students urged to Flee Columbia Following Antisemitic Protest

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