As some in the blogosphere have said, hell even some Israeli’s are saying it….the Hamas victory is actually a good way of letting the world know in the most definite of terms that those in Palestine believe in terrorism:
Following their resounding election victory, the Islamic militants of Hamas met the question of whether they will change their stripes with a loud “no”: no recognition of Israel, no negotiations, no renunciation of terror.
And should be dealt with accordingly:
TEL AVIV, Jan. 28 ? Arie Schmidt stopped on Saturday to place a pebble on the memorial to the 21 dead at the Dolphinarium disco, killed in a suicide bombing by Hamas in 2001. The dead were mostly teenagers.
Mr. Schmidt sighed, then chained one careful word to the next on what it means that Hamas is now the official Palestinian power. “I tell you,” he began, “we think it is actually the best thing that can happen to Israel.
“Because now we see the real face of the Palestinians,” said Mr. Schmidt, 56, a computer engineer from Haifa who considers himself neither on the left nor the right. “From their vote we can understand their theory to destroy the state of Israel is not a theory but a fact.
[...]Still, from conversations in Tel Aviv, where the palm trees and beaches can still create the illusion that violent reality is far away, anger was not the strongest emotion. Rather there seemed to be satisfaction, not with the result itself, but with how it put issues into plain view.
In electing Hamas, many Israelis here said, Palestinians could no longer hide behind figures like Yasir Arafat, who talked about peace but, they said, worked to undermine it until his death in November 2004. His Fatah faction now lies beaten, its monopoly on official power ended.
In contrast, Hamas stands quite clearly for the destruction of Israel. Now the rest of the world, Israelis said, can see this is the program supported by most Palestinians.
I too see this as a good thing. They wanted all out war, by George I believe they will get one. With the added benefit of Israel not having to pull it’s punches any longer. If the official state of Palestine declares they will accept nothing less then the destruction of Israel, then Israel must do what needs to be done to defeat them. Plain and simple.
Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the hawkish Israeli Likud party, wants to move the security fence farther into the West Bank after the Hamas election victory.
“An extreme Islamic state that seeks to destroy Israel and whose leaders’ hands are soiled with Jewish blood … is emerging,” the former prime minister said.
Netanyahu dismissed the view that governing might make Hamas more moderate, comparing the Islamist group to Afghanistan’s Taliban and the religious hard-liners in Iran.
The west no longer has to restrain Israel; we no longer have to be the moderating influence. What better turn of events could there have been? Well, a better one would have been a surprise victory for a moderate government in Palestine, that only wished peace with Israel….but we all knew that was not going to happen.
Come on you lefties, jump on the Palestine bandwagon and get over there. I believe Israel has some bombs with your names on it.
I believe Hamas already has plans for some outfits for you to join:
The leader of Hamas suggested Saturday that the Islamic group could create a Palestinian army that would include its militant wing ? responsible for scores of deadly attacks on Israelis ? in the aftermath of its crushing victory in parliamentary elections.
[...]The Hamas chief, Khaled Mashaal, reiterated that Hamas would not recongize Israel and indicated attacks on Israeli civilians would continue as long as Israel continued to target Palestinian civilians. “As long as we are under occupation then resistance is our right,” he said.
[..]Speaking from his base in Damascus, Syria, Mashaal insisted his group would not disarm and said Hamas’ military wing, estimated at nearly 5,000 gunmen in Gaza alone, could be merged into a Palestinian army.
“We are ready to unify the weapons of Palestinian factions, with Palestinian consensus, and form an army like any independent state,” he said.
[...]Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they would not deal with Hamas, and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel would not rule out targeted killings against Hamas leaders if they attack Israel. Israeli airstrikes in 2004 killed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his successor Abdel Aziz Rantisi.
“Whoever stands at the head of a terror organization and continues to carry out terror attacks against Israel is not immune,” Mofaz told Israel’s Channel 2 television.
[...]In a move likely to anger Israel, Mashaal said Hamas would release Ahmed Saadat, leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He is being held at a Palestinian jail under Western supervision for ordering the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001.
And get this, Bill Clinton is telling the US that we should deal with a terrorist organization:
Speaking at the World Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former President Clinton suggested Saturday that the West should be more open to eventual talks with Hamas.
“You’ve got to find a way to at least open doors … and I don’t see how we can do it without more contact,” he said. Hamas might “acquire a greater sense of responsibility, and as they do, we have to be willing to act on that.”
What Other’s Are Saying:
The AP gets its editorial voice into a news report with that last paragraph, blaming Israel and the West for the Palestianian selection of Hamas as its government. That will apparently be the left-wing meme for the collapse of the illusion of a peace process that involved one party that would only accept the peace of annihilation. Israel coughed up Gaza without any return gesture from the Palestinians, and the West has poured billions of dollars into the territories through the organization that Europe and liberals insisted was the only one that truly represented Palestinian interests. Now the rejection of that corrupt organization for an explicit supporter of genocide and terrorism somehow translates to a failure of the West?
I’ve written in previous posts that it will take decades to undo the harm caused by the eight years of the Clinton Administration. Do not think for one moment that what is now happening in the Middle East isn’t tied to the policy failures of those eight years. Do not think for one moment that Hillary Clinton’s kiss to Suha Arafat did not only pacify issues that should have been dealt with at that time, but also gave the Muslim extremists time and fuel for their build up of what the world now faces with a Hamas-led government.
We have another veritable mess created, and left for others to clean up, directly due to the political failures of our 42nd president.
Just say what you mean, people. Those of you who don’t believe that the Palestinians and other Arabs should have the right to choose their own government should just come out and say so. Stop hiding behind criticisms of Bush and the dreaded “neocons” and say what you mean.
There need be no Israeli guilt here. They?ve tried everything. Colonial rule of the Palestinians fell apart in the intifada. Appointing a strongman to rule them led to Arafat and the highest level of Israeli civilian casualties in a decade. Forcing the Palestinians to rule themselves has revealed them as a people that has sold it?s soul to Iblis. While bargains with the Devil need not be honored (He doesn?t honor bargains, does he?), they?ll have to live with the consequences of forsaking the honest opposition for the illusion of power and ethno-religious ?pride?, resentment and unearned entitlement.
Other’s Blogging:
I too see this as a good thing. They wanted all out war, by George I believe they will get one. With the added benefit of Israel not having to pull it’s punches any longer. If the official state of Palestine declares they will accept nothing less then the destruction of Israel, then Israel must do what needs to be done to defeat them. Plain and simple.
Thanks for the Nod Curt. I have added your post as a “Linking To This Post” as well.
You’ve hit may areas one this issue that will be forces to deal with in the years to come.