Anna Shnaidman on the cost of mistaking ideals for reality.
To those far from the Middle East, the phrase “freedom of movement” sounds benign. Noble, even. It evokes images of peaceful travelers, open skies, borderless cooperation, and a shared human future. In Europe or North America, it’s often treated as a self-evident good—an ideal to be pursued universally and unconditionally.
But for those of us who live in the shadow of hostile regimes, who bury our children after terror attacks, who have watched buses explode and dance parties turn into massacres—freedom of movement is not theoretical. It is a matter of life and death.
On October 7, 2023, the State of Israel learned—once again—the fatal price of mistaking ideology for reality.
That morning, over 1,200 Israelis—civilians—were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel through the border with Gaza. They murdered babies in their cribs. They raped women, burned families alive, and abducted dozens into captivity. It was the largest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.
And it happened because borders were breached—not just physically, but morally.
The Fantasy of Open Borders Meets the Brutality of Hamas
For decades, Israel has faced intense pressure to ease its border policies with Gaza, a densely populated coastal strip controlled since 2007 by Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Hamas is not a political protest movement. It is a religiously motivated militia whose founding charter calls for the annihilation of Israel and the murder of Jews worldwide.
After Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 — evacuating every soldier and every Israeli civilian — the hope was that the Palestinians there would seize the opportunity to build a peaceful society. Billions of dollars in international aid poured in. Crossings were opened for trade and labour. There were even joint industrial zones being planned.
That hope was shattered.
Instead of investing in schools and hospitals, Hamas built terror tunnels. Instead of recognizing Israel, it launched rockets at its towns. Instead of educating for peace, it trained children to glorify martyrdom. And each time Israel tried to allow greater freedom of movement—for humanitarian reasons, for economic cooperation—the result was exploitation. Ambulances used to smuggle bombs. Construction materials diverted to build bunkers and tunnels. Workers with permits conducting reconnaissance for attacks.
October 7 was not an aberration. It was the outcome of a system that rewards open access without demanding responsibility. It was the horrific climax of years of appeasement.
“Freedom” Is Not Freedom to Kill
The world must understand: freedom of movement is not an absolute right, especially when it endangers others. It is a privilege contingent upon peaceful intent. In a region where terror groups hide among civilians, where every truck or tunnel may carry death, borders are not oppressive—they are essential.
No sovereign nation would behave differently. No Western democracy would allow unmonitored entry from a neighboring territory ruled by a violent regime sworn to its destruction. Why then is Israel—the only democracy in the Middle East—expected to?
The double standards are staggering. The same governments that build walls to stop economic migrants criticize Israel for defending itself against armed militants. The same academics who demand “safe spaces” on campus accuse Israel of paranoia for not allowing unvetted entry from a terror state next door.
Borders are not just lines on a map. They are lines between civilization and chaos. They are mechanisms of responsibility. They are how adults manage risk. And only adults—meaning real governments, not ideological militias—can be trusted with the rights that borders both protect and regulate.
Infantilizing Terror is Moral Cowardice
One of the most corrosive trends in Western discourse is the infantilization of the Palestinian leadership. Hamas is treated not as a governing power with choices and responsibilities, but as an eternal victim—too traumatized to be held accountable, too powerless to be expected to behave morally.
But this is an insult, not solidarity. It erases the agency of Palestinian actors, and worse—it empowers their worst representatives. When the world excuses terrorism as a cry of despair, it condemns Palestinians to endless cycles of violence, poverty, and political stagnation.
And it punishes Israelis—especially the most vulnerable — by demanding that we expose ourselves to murder in the name of someone else’s utopia.
The October 7 massacre was made possible by a worldview that puts ideals over evidence. That values theoretical justice over practical security. That refuses to accept that in some cases, the barrier is the only thing standing between life and annihilation.
Real Peace Requires Real Borders
There can be no peace without boundaries—political, ethical, and physical. If Gaza ever wishes to reintegrate into a peaceful regional framework, it must begin by dismantling Hamas. Not rhetorically. Not symbolically. In practice.
It must stop launching rockets. It must stop indoctrinating children. It must start building an actual civil society—one that embraces contracts, not martyrdom; dialogue, not tunnels.
Until that happens, Israel has every right—and every duty—to keep its borders tight. To vet every person who enters. To verify every shipment. To monitor every crossing. Not out of cruelty, but out of necessity. Because we have seen—with unbearable clarity—what happens when we don’t.
October 7 was not just a failure of military intelligence. It was a failure of political judgment — the belief that trust can be granted to those who have never shown themselves trustworthy. That goodwill can substitute for deterrence. That openness, in and of itself, is peace.
It is not.
Peace is earned. Security is built. And movement—real, dignified, humane movement—is only possible when both sides uphold the rules of adulthood.
Israel upholds those rules. Hamas never has.
So the border must remain. Not because we reject humanity, but because we cherish it. Not because we hate our neighbors, but because we have learned—through unspeakable pain—what happens when we ignore reality in favor of rhetoric.
You may believe in freedom of movement. So do we. But only when it does not cost us our lives.
Until that day, don’t ask us to die for your ideals. Ask instead why those who violated every principle of human decency still have defenders in polite society.
Ask why, after October 7, Israel is still the one on trial.
And ask yourself—if it had been your family, your town, your children—would you open the gates again?
We won’t.
And we shouldn’t.
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