Former Gaza Synagogue to Become Hamas Museum

The destroyed synagogue in the evacuated Gaza settlement of Netzarim is expected to be converted into a temporary Hamas museum. Members of the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, plan to exhibit the terror group’s “military industry.” Instruments used in suicide attacks and the “tunnel war,” as well as missiles and rockets, will be on display.

Folks, face it. The response of Hamas, palestinians, and Muslims, to the death, suffering, and mutilation of Jews and other human beings raises pointed questions about the health of palestinian and Muslim society. There is, of course, nothing new about palestinians applauding terror. During the Gulf War in 1991, palestinian Muslims danced on rooftops in praise of Iraqi Scud missiles raining on Israeli neighborhoods. Again, in the mid-1990s, after bus bombs in Israel killed dozens — an estimated 70,000 palestinians filled a Gaza stadium to cheer a reenactment of the massacre. The deaths of over 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11 was another cause for dancing by palestinians.

As Michael Freund states, there is no rational explanation for the outbursts of joy bordering on ecstasy at the dismemberment of innocent children, women, and men. Beyond the controversy over settlements and territory, beyond the bitter conflict over Jerusalem, there is something else at work in the delight displayed by palestinians over slaughter — something sick and perhaps even evil.