“Their motives and goals remain a mystery,” the reporter stated as the Hamas terrorist waved the banner in the background. “Are they seeking full Palestinian statehood and sovereignty? Are they hoping to improve the lives of the civilians under their charge? Do they want Taylor Swift tickets? Sadly, we may, in fact, never know what it is they truly want.”

[Again, only barely satire, and perhaps only for a brief moment. It’s not as though Hamas was shy about proclaiming its goal of exterminating Jews; it’s in their charter. Rather, the real issue is the chauvinistic belief by Westerners that they couldn’t possibly MEAN that, and that the real goal had to be something else. And I suspect most Westerners will go back to that belief, sooner rather than later, rather than take Hamas’ word for it. It’s the only thing they’ve never lied about. — Ed]