Avi Benlolo: Cognitive dissonance won’t save the West from the evils of Hamas

A socio-psychological analysis is a must to understand and perhaps eradicate antisemitism and anti-Israel detraction. Why is it that ordinary people are choosing to hear no evil and see no evil? Why do they deliberately avoid evidentiary truth, pretending not to hear or see especially when it comes to the spreading of immoral behaviour that is opposite to social norms?

Two events this week illustrated and provided context for these critical questions. The first was Rimon Buchshtab-Kirscht’s first long-form interview about being captured by Hamas on Oct. 7. 2023 along with her husband. She was released on Nov. 28, 2023. Her husband’s death in Gaza was announced in July 2024. You may remember the incredible image of her looking courageously at her Hamas captor during her release after 53 days — the Palestinian flag shown clearly on his sleeve.

(As an aside, to tell the world the truth about who the Palestinians are, the image should have been featured on the cover of Time Magazine, no less than the powerful image of “Tank Man” featured in 1989. Instead, it seems to have been mostly ignored by western media that appears to want to see no evil from the Palestinians’ side).

Buchshtab-Krischt’s eye-witness account of her ordeal in Hamas captivity should turn any Israel detractor into an immediate ally: she was beaten and caged like an animal. “I underwent a very intrusive search,” she said. “Only afterward at some point, I realized that, looking at it from the outside, I experienced some sort of sexual crime.”

The second event, a diabolical example of misrepresentation of the truth came this week from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani who has been using his platform to denigrate the State of Israel. He released an official video this week, backtracking on his campaign promise to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the trumped up charge of war crime. He repeated his false narrative that a “genocide” had been committed.

In Mamdani’s world, its Netanyahu that brought on devastation in Gaza, not Hamas. Listening to Mamdani, you might think that it was Netanyahu that started that war on October 7. You might be led to believe that it was Netanyahu who savagely murdered almost 1,200 in Israel that day. Or that it was Netanyahu, not Hamas, who fired rockets at Israel, built tunnels with aid money and used his own citizens as human shields in orchestrating the war against Israel.

Why do people continue to reject overwhelming evidence that Israel has been defending itself against brutal terrorists, when it appears clear and compelling?

Several well-established psychological doctrines may explain this phenomenon. Among them is “confirmation bias” a term used when one seeks out only the information they believe, discounting challenging evidence, such as that provided by former hostages.

Another reason is that “cognitive dissonance” brings about discomfort and misalignment with one’s identity when facts conflict with deeply held beliefs. Protecting one’s identity and staying aligned with one’s family and community usually overwhelmingly trumps the truth. For instance, Mamdani calls the war in Gaza a “genocide” and cites the Hamas number of 73,000 deaths, even though, to be accurate, any number cited would need to include the likely high number of Hamas terrorists killed in action while fighting Israel.

We are in a perfect storm when it comes to the rejection of the truth. For years leading up to October 7, we were fed with new ideological frameworks such as “diversity, equity and inclusivity,” (DEI) programs that include newly created concepts like “Islamophobia” but have left out antisemitism, almost entirely — despite the fact that statistics showcase that the Jewish community is the most targeted group for racism and discrimination.

Adding to this perfect storm is a renewed interest in colonial theory that seeks to divide the world into oppressors and oppressed. In this case, colonial theory has attempted to paint Jews as invaders of their own land, despite the fact they are indigenous to the land of Israel.

Too much damage has been done. It’s going to take generations to overcome the distortion and the denial that has taken place since October 7. Changing public opinion is a gradual process and will require time and energy. We must continue telling the truth, maintaining a clear and moral narrative, repeating consistent messages, using credible and diverse messengers and, of course, appealing to universal values of human rights, freedom and democracy.

In the meantime, those who are complicit in the evil that surround us need to be exposed. They need to know that we see them. That’s the lesson we can draw from the strength of Buchshtab-Krischt. As she stared back at her Palestinian captor on her way to freedom, she said to him: “just because you’re masked doesn’t mean I can’t see you, and just because your eyes are covered doesn’t mean I don’t recognize your voice, or remember what you did to me and kul kalb biji yomo” (an Arabic expression that refers to every dog eventually gets what he deserves).

National Post

Avi Abraham Benlolo is the chairman and CEO of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative, a Canadian think-tank.