NYT’s Friedman: Sinwar’s ‘Human Sacrifice’ of Palestinians to Win ‘the Next Generation on TikTok’ Has, Sadly, ‘Worked’

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman stated that former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar engaged in “a human sacrifice” of Palestinians because he attacked Israel to produce a reaction and then “He provided no warning, no shelter for any of his people in light of the Israeli onslaught. He, in effect, traded thousands of Palestinian lives for the next generation on TikTok,” and unfortunately, “it worked.”

Friedman stated, “Look, there have been two uprising[s] against Hamas in 2019 and in 2021 among Gazans. They were called, we want to live. That was the name of the uprising. So, this was an Islamo-fascist organization. And, yes, he had his supporters, obviously, but, over the last year, given what happened in Gaza — because basically, Anderson, what Sinwar did, it was a human sacrifice. He attacked Israel in a way that he knew would produce this reaction. He provided no warning, no shelter for any of his people in light of the Israeli onslaught. He, in effect, traded thousands of Palestinian lives for the next generation on TikTok, to win the support of the next generation. By the way, it worked. It was a very effective strategy, if you’re interested in public affairs for Palestinians. But if you’re interested in a state for Palestinians, it’s been a disaster.”

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