If the "Free Palestine!" crowd didn't want peace, what did they want?

It’s been two weeks since U.S. President Donald Trump and his team artfully engineered a ceasefire, hostage release deal, and peace accord in the Middle East.

In an unprecedented diplomatic push, President Trump applied maximum pressure coupled with incentives and brought to a close the conflict between Israel and Hamas (Iran).

Two weeks on, and the fragile peace still holds in Gaza and the West Bank.

There have been tests, to be sure. While Israel has kept to the agreement, Hamas failed to produce the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages as a condition of the ceasefire. The Hamas Ministry of antisemitism, terrorism, propaganda, and discord (not its real name) claims to have lost the bodies. 

We have not heard the last of this outrage, and Israeli officials have rightly demanded answers. The families of the hostages who perished in captivity deserve to lay their loved ones to rest with dignity in accordance with religious traditions.

But the ceasefire holds.

Hamas took the ceasefire as an opportunity to settle some political scores in Palestine. Public executions of Palestinians determined to be insufficiently opposed to Israel were carried out by Hamas henchmen in the streets on October 15.

Israel condemned the executions. Hamas called it a “transitional phase.”

But the ceasefire held.

That it continues to hold is a testament to U.S. President Donald Trump’s negotiating ability, Israel’s restraint, and the willingness of the world to dismiss Hamas atrocities as a matter of course.

Still, some seem more willing to dismiss Hamas atrocities than others.

Immediately after the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, “Free Palestine” protestors hit the streets to condemn, not Hamas, but Israel.

In the U.S. and around the world, we have been treated to two years of “Free Palestine” protestors blocking roadways, defacing Israeli hostage posters, and calling for an immediate ceasefire every day since the conflict flared anew after October 7.

Progressive “Free Palestine” protestors have been extremely vocal in their opposition to the war between Israel and Hamas for over two years. Celebrities, prominent liberals, and elected Democrats have been calling for a ceasefire and condemning Israel in the strongest possible terms.

Now that there is a ceasefire to be celebrated, many are saying absolutely nothing.

Why aren’t “Free Palestine” protestors happy about the ceasefire?

“The ‘Peace Protestors’ Who Won’t Give Peace a Chance,” observed Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib for The Free Press on October 8, 2025. “The ‘pro-Palestine’ activists and organizations formerly insistent on an immediate ceasefire suddenly appear quite opposed to a plan to end the Gaza war.”

“You might think the proposal would be met with relief, if not enthusiasm, by those who seemed so desperate to end the most destructive chapter in contemporary Palestinian history,” noted Alkhatib wryly. 

The writer has a point.

Why aren’t the celebrities who have tweeted about Palestine, soapboxed about it, and shouted about it congratulating President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or even Hamas leadership?

If they can find any Hamas leadership left to congratulate.

Israel has been ruthlessly efficient in tracking down and eliminating the masterminds of the October 7 terror attack against its citizens, after all. 

“There’s a ceasefire — but Hollywood’s fight over Israel and Gaza still rages,” admitted Elizabeth Wagmeister for CNN on October 18, 2025.

Wagmeister reports: 

“‘Celebrities that have been so outspoken and so engaged with this conflict and calling out Israel almost on a daily basis have all gone quiet about the brutal murder of Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire began,” says Hen Mazzig, senior fellow at the pro-Israel Tel Aviv institute, which utilizes influencers online to enact opinion change about both Jews and Israel. He made the claim that these activists didn’t care about Palestinians but were only using the cause to attack Israel, saying that ‘the mask was off’: ‘We know exactly what they stand for and we know exactly what it was all about — I think it’s clear it was about using their platform to attack Israel.’”

Why aren’t the “Pro-Palestine” progressives celebrating? Hamas is under new management, the ceasefire is holding, the war has stopped, there is regional pressure on Hamas to keep the peace, the hostages are home, and aid is flowing into Gaza.

What more did the pro-Palestine group want?

Israel removed from the West Bank? “From the River to the Sea”? Jews torn from their ancestral homeland?

Hamas victorious?

As the silence spirals on, it’s hard not to wonder.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)