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What Hamas Has Wrought

[Huffington Post] Edgar M. Bronfman - "We do not recognize your right to exist. We reserve the right to attack you at any point. And we will surely not honor any previous agreements regarding peace and reconciliation." These are Hamas' positions vis-a-vis Israel, which they state publicly and repeatedly. The same organization fires rockets at Israeli civilians from among the people of the Gaza Strip, and then the whole world condemns the Israeli government for acting to defend its citizens. As a Jew and as a liberal, I am appalled at what took place last month in Gaza and the tragic loss of innocent life. But the fundamentals of this crisis have not changed. Hamas is still not a partner in any meaningful way, certainly not for peace. The ongoing negotiations in Cairo are being held up by Hamas' maximalist demands. All the while, rockets are still being smuggled into Gaza; their only function is to instill terror and increase bloodshed. Armchair ethicists in the West would do well to imagine a Middle East that, for the past 15 years, did not have a Hamas. Imagine a strong Oslo Peace Process, since the countless suicide bombers of buses and shopping malls and coffee shops would never have been dispatched to undermine any progress towards peace. Imagine a Gaza Strip after Israel's 2005 pullout being built-up, not as the world's first inhabited launching pad for rockets, but as the first step in real Palestinian self-determination and self-sufficiency. And imagine the tragic but unavoidable recent events in Gaza never having taken place, since thousands of Hamas rockets would not have found their way into Israeli living rooms and schoolyards. The crucial point about Israel that is often overlooked is that, for all its faults (and I have never been shy about pointing those out), a two-state solution to this conflict has been the official policy of every government since 1993. It is time for observers in the West to understand that the biggest impediment to a better future for both Palestinians and Israelis is not the actions Israel might take to defend itself, but rather Hamas' obstinate rejectionism and violence. Solve this, and then you can begin to solve the overall conflict. The writer, chairman of the Board of Governors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, is the former president of the World Jewish Congress.
2009-02-10 06:00:00
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