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Hamas Doesn't Want a Palestinian State

(Spectator-UK) Efraim Karsh - Hamas is no liberation movement in search of a Palestinian nation. Instead, it seeks the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic empire on its ruins. How do we know? Because senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar has said so: "Islamic and traditional views reject the notion of establishing an independent Palestinian state....Our main goal is to establish a great Islamic state, be it pan-Arabic or pan-Islamic." The most recent bout of fighting - in which thousands of rockets have been fired - is inspired by the idea of freeing the Holy Land from Israel. On 10 May, Hamas bombed the Holy City as Israelis were celebrating Jerusalem Day. This armed attack on the nation's capital left Israel's government little choice but to respond robustly. After all, what else can be done when terrorists try to kill your citizens? There is no difference between Hamas' commitment to Israel's destruction and the Islamists' plans for the West. To imagine that Hamas can be appeased or deflected is to make a big mistake. What has made this latest conflagration particularly traumatic for Israeli Jews is the tidal wave of violence unleashed by some of Hamas' Arab compatriots. Cities once considered showcases of Arab-Jewish co-existence have been rocked by mass violence and vandalism. Jewish residents were attacked in their homes by Arab neighbors with whom they had co-existed peacefully for decades. Some attribute this uptick in violence to supposed longstanding discrimination, but that idea couldn't be further from the truth. Why? Because the riots came after a decade of unprecedented government investment in Arab neighborhoods and businesses, including a $4.6 billion socioeconomic aid program. The writer is emeritus professor of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London and director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
2021-05-24 00:00:00
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