No they’re not the good guys, but it’s also important to understand radicalization doesn’t manifest out of thin air. Like a child who suffers abuse and abuse and abuse, there can often come a breaking point, whether that’s suicidal or homicidal ideation. Oxford shooter comes to mind. Radicalization/terrorism is effectively this at a larger collective scale. People don’t just suddenly wake up one day wanting to murder a bunch of civilians. Such animosity is trans-generational and deeply rooted.

What are some of the ingredients to radicalization?

• Lack of opportunity. (infrastructure in rubble)
• Lack of education. (schools now in rubble.)
• A deep feeling of being oppressed or a perceived injustice unresolved. (lack of free travel, blockades, territorial annexation)
• Pure desperation or loss of all hope. (orphans, parents who lost their kids).

That isn’t to excuse it, but to understand it and hint at solutions.

Ultimately religion to paraphrase Seneca is a source of hope for the downtrodden, a tool for the powerful, and an excuse for the wicked. It’s why you see such an overlap with extremism.

I’m pro-civilian above all else. When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, I condemned it. When Israel inflicted dozens of October 7ths upon civilians of Gaza, I too have continued to condemn it.