In 1996, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen published “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust.” The book, which became an international bestseller overnight, caused a sensation with its brutal but straightforward thesis: The Holocaust happened because “ordinary Germans” were moved by antisemitism to slaughter Jews.
Goldhagen offered no other excuse for the worst crime of the 20th century: “not economic hardship, not the coercive means of a totalitarian state, not social psychological pressure, not invariable psychological propensities, but ideas about Jews that were pervasive in Germany, and had been for decades, induced ordinary Germans to kill unarmed, defenseless Jewish men, women, and children by the thousands, systematically and without pity.” He therefore insisted that those who killed Jews be called not Nazis, but simply “Germans.”
The Goldhagen thesis caused an enormous controversy. However, the fundamental question he asks — who was responsible — must be applied in the same way to the Oct. 7 massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of more than 200, as there is increasing evidence of ordinary Gazans’ culpability in the most recent pogrom.
To explore the actions of Gazans in the killings is not to argue for collective punishment of the civilian population. It is to be clear-eyed about one of the most significant events in Israel’s history and what will undoubtedly be a signal moment in the 21st century, and to understand the challenges Israel faces in eliminating armed threats to its existence.
That it was “Hamas” and not the Gazans who caused the massacre became a point of convergence for many. President Biden has repeatedly stated that Hamas “does not represent the Palestinian people,” or variations such as “the vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas.” There are many statements similar to “Hamas is not Gaza, and Gaza is not Hamas (see here, and here).” And descriptions of the actual attacks on Israel attribute the war crimes to “Hamas fighters.”
The truth is more complicated. Evidence has surfaced that responsibility for the Oct. 7 attacks goes beyond Hamas. While Hamas may have broken through the border fence, Gadi Yarkoni, the mayor of the Eshkol Regional Council said, “We saw that it was not only Hamas who came to slaughter us. It was all the residents of Gaza, including people who worked in our kibbutzim.” Andrew Tobin wrote, “Security footage and Hamas videos from Be’eri, Nir Oz, and other kibbutzim capture dozens of ordinary-looking Gazans looting and taking part in killings and kidnappings.”
It is also clear that Gazans cheered on the murders and humiliated the captives, and that Hamas knew what they did would be celebrated. Thus, the now famous recording where a Hamas militant called his parents to brag about his killing, saying, “I killed 10 Jews with my own hands. I’m using the dead Jewish woman’s phone to call you now.”
After American atrocities, ranging from the My Lai massacre to Abu Ghraib, many said that the violence reflected bad decisions of individuals as well as fundamental problems in American society. It is reasonable to similarly say that the violence Hamas perpetuated has deep roots in the antisemitism and hatred that is found throughout Gaza.
Why has the world so adamantly refrained from assigning responsibility to those beyond Hamas? Part is fear of justifying collective punishment. Part is a desire to claim sympathy for the Palestinian cause by separating the murderers from people just getting by with their lives. But part is to try to rescue some hope for a two-state solution. That goal, which has become a religion to some, will face even more obstacles if it becomes clear that some ordinary Gazans are willing to not only cheer on but participate in the killings.
It will be a long time before we understand exactly who did what on Oct. 7. The truth will undoubtedly be complicated. Gazans must make difficult decisions about whose side they are on at any one moment.
However, we must open our eyes to uncomfortable facts if we are to have any hope of understanding these shocking crimes and thinking about the future. For instance, it is becoming apparent that Gazans who were given work permits to be employed in Israel (a development America welcomed and argued for) were critical to providing intelligence on how Hamas could attack. Such knowledge might reasonably factor into understanding whether economic integration between Israeli and Gazan communities, or a Palestinian state, is possible in the future.
Most importantly, honoring the dead and acting respectfully in the face of such atrocities requires telling the truth.
Herbst, formerly the president of Colgate University and chair of the Department of Politics at Princeton University, is president of American Jewish University.
