Middle East Neighborliness

by Nadene Goldfoot

Realizing that Palestine was going to be a state in part of the tiny land of Israel, the Israelis decided to get ready for it by pulling out of Gaza two years ago August 15, 2005. To accomplish this, they had to evacuate their 9,000 Israelis who were living there and the four northern Judea and Samaria (West Bank) communities as they would not be welcome by the Muslims who wanted the land. This meant that Israel had to uproot schools, businesses, synagogues and the only Jewish cemetery. It was a painful process for the Israelis who have had to relocate in other areas in Israel which includes finding new jobs.

In return for this neighborly action, the Palestinians have taken full advantage. Gaza is now a launching pad for rockets. Since then, 1,500 Qassam rockets have been fired into Israel’s Negev region. They have killed six civilians and injured hundreds and even hit areas where evacuees had been relocated.

The Muslims responsible for the rocket attacks are the Iran backed terrorists, Hamas. Others also take credit such as the Palestinian Jihad, the Fatah party’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Resistance Committees. They launch rockets and mortars at Israel almost daily. For instance, from May 15to May 31, 2007, more than 300 Qassam rockets were fired into Israel from them.

Hamas has imported sophisticated weapons into the Gaza Strip. They have smuggled in more than 20 tons of explosives. Manpower has increased to 13,000. They have sent militants to Iran for training and instucting men in Gaza. They are creating a naval guard force.

Examples of their Sharia (Islamic Rule) are:
1. banning public gatherings that do not have permission and instituting beating up of protestors.
2. Closing TV programs that portray the truth about Gaza
3. Kidnapping a Christian female professor who was the girlfriend of a Muslim and forcing them to marry and her to convert to Islam.
4. Forbidding women to wear bathing suits in hotel pools, even those open to women only.
5. Forbidding coffee shops to have men and women customers who sit near each other.
6. Creating TV children’s show where a Mickey Mouse named Farfur taught hatred of Jews.
Israelis aren’t the only ones injured by their takeover of Gaza. On August 7, 2007, a rocket aimed for Israel misfired and killed two Palestinian children and injured seven others. Infighting among the Palestinian groups have caused more than 600 Palestinians to be killed. During the first seven months of 2007, 415 Palestinians were killed, including 28 children, and another 2,022 Palestinians were injured.

This is Palestinians attacking Palestinians. This is the party they voted in.

Hamas is not behaving as if it intends to be a good neighbor. With all these war-like preparations, it is behaving as if it intends to continue attacking Israel. It would be counter-productive for Israel to attack Palestine after all the work of seeing it sitting next to them and with world opinion screaming for the creation of Palestine. Therefore, why else is Hamas prepared for war?