The ceasefire illusion: confronting the hypocrisy of a movement that never wanted peace

Yesterday, I was confronted by someone who insisted that Israel had broken the ceasefire.

They said it was Israel’s fault, that Israel had signed the agreement knowing it would fail, and that it therefore bore responsibility for its collapse.

It’s a familiar accusation, but hearing it again drove home a deeper truth. This is no longer just misinformation; it is a calculated distortion of reality. It’s a lie that flips morality on its head — where terrorists are victims, victims are aggressors, and Israel, no matter what it does, is always the one to blame.

The latest ceasefire with Hamas was barely hours old before rockets were once again fired at Israeli positions. Israel struck back — as any nation would when attacked — yet the headlines were already written: “Israel violates ceasefire,” “Truce shattered,” “Israel breaks fragile peace.”

Never mind that Hamas broke the deal first. Never mind that Israel’s actions were defensive. Never mind that every ceasefire with Hamas ends the same way: Hamas fires, Israel responds, and Israel is blamed.

The hypocrisy is staggering. The same people who demanded a ceasefire now condemn Israel for enforcing one. The same movement that spent two years shouting “Ceasefire now!” suddenly looks away when the truth of their demand is exposed.

For months, the global pro-Palestinian movement has claimed it wants peace — an end to fighting, an end to suffering. But that’s not what it wants. A real ceasefire would mean Hamas stops attacking Israel. It would mean disarmament, demilitarisation, and surrendering control of Gaza — things Hamas has openly vowed never to do. The activists know this. They know Hamas won’t honour peace. And they know that every time Israel agrees to a ceasefire, the cycle will play out the same way: Hamas provokes, Israel responds, and Israel is demonised.

This isn’t about ending violence. It’s about ensuring Israel can never be seen as legitimate. It’s about keeping Israel trapped in a permanent moral paradox — condemned for defending itself, accused for surviving.

The modern anti-Israel movement has turned peace itself into a weapon. Every ceasefire becomes a political snare. Sign the deal and you’re naïve. Enforce it and you’re a monster. Refuse it and you’re a warmonger. It’s a rigged game designed to guarantee that Israel always loses in the court of public opinion, no matter what the facts are.

And the irony is impossible to ignore. The same people who chant “From the river to the sea” — a slogan calling for Israel’s elimination — are the ones lecturing Israel about peace. They don’t want peace. They want Israel gone. They’ve simply learned to package that goal in the language of human rights.

What we’re witnessing now is the exposure of something we’ve long known: that much of the so-called pro-Palestinian movement in the West was never about coexistence or justice. It was about erasure. Over the past two years, the mask has slipped completely. The antisemitism is open, the threats are public, and the pretence of moral concern has vanished. With this new “ceasefire” narrative, the hypocrisy is complete.

The world demanded that Israel trust a terrorist regime sworn to its destruction. Israel complied. Hamas broke the deal. And somehow, Israel is the villain.

This is the reality Israel now faces — not just on the battlefield, but in the battle for truth. Because this is no longer a debate about facts. It’s about who gets to define them. It’s about whether truth itself still matters in a world that prefers outrage to understanding.

Israel did not break the ceasefire; it responded to attacks. It did not sabotage peace; it participated in one that Hamas destroyed. Israel is not afraid of diplomacy; it’s simply tired of being condemned for its own survival.

The tragedy is not that Israel can’t win — it’s that too many people refuse to let it. The hypocrisy lies in those who shout for peace but celebrate every time peace collapses. And the greatest falsehood of all is the claim that their movement ever wanted peace in the first place.

Until the world is willing to see that truth — that this has never been about human rights or coexistence, but about the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — the same cynical theatre will continue. The same accusations will resurface. And the same convenient lie will dominate the headlines: that Israel, once again, is the problem.

Michael Gencher is the Executive Director of StandWithUs Australia