I think an apt comparison is Russia and Ukraine right now. I fully support Ukraine in this war, and part of that is not just because they’re the underdog who got unjustifiably invaded, but because they take care to avoid targetting innocent civilians. For example, when they strike Sevastopol, they strike military facilities, never residential areas. Whereas Russia intentionally terrorizes the Ukrainian people, kidnaps Ukrainian children, targets residential areas, and commits so frickin many war crimes.

If the attack by Hamas were against legitimate military targets, I don’t think there would be many people out here questioning it. But they didn’t. They are a fundamentalist religious group that wishes to commit genocide, and they intentionally targeted and mass-murdered civilians. Beyond that, by attacking a music festival, they targeted people who were statistically more likely to be sympathetic to their cause. Clearly their goal is not simply self defense, but genocide.

Also a good comparison is the PLO in West Bank, as they aren’t Hamas and had no hand in this attack. In fact, they and Hamas hate each other. And as far as I’m aware, PLO just wants the two-state solution and haven’t officially sanctioned terrorist attacks in ages. Unfortunately, Hamas has likely managed to discredit the PLO cause, despite them not having any guilt in this.