Hamas in Gaza
by Nadene Goldfoot
The destruction of Israel is called for in the Hamas terrorists' charter. They claim that all the "Palestinian" land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is a sacred Islamic endowment that nobody has the right to give up. Evidently they are talking about the U.N. accepting Israel as a state in 1948 and feel that they did not have the right to do so. The Ottoman Empire, in league with the Axis, lost the World War I. They lost their empire, including Palestine, a name of a barren piece of land. Taking control over this land was the League of Nations, the original United Nations, with England and France in control. That's a part of history that Hamas refuses to accept.
What makes it Islamic in the first place is absolutely wrong. The land never was an Islamic state. It was land that the Ottoman Empire had taken but had done nothing with. It only deteriorated in their hands. It was ignored, unwanted, and had become nothing but swamps and desert land. Not only that, but Jews never completely left. Some remained, living a very meager life. They were in Jerusalem and Safed and other localities.
Now Haniyeh, Gaza's Hamas leader, wants to allow all Palestinians around the world to vote and he would obey. Points to vote on are the return of all Palestinian refugees and the borders of the future Palestine. He must feel pretty sure that these people will vote according to his will, or he would not be so outspoken. So many are still living in camps after 62 years out of stubborn resistance and have never worked during this whole time, being on the dole of the United Nations, that I'm sure they would love to take over Jewish property as they were promised in the first place by this same type of leadership back in 1948. Yes, he's sure to follow the voting outcome. Such a Democratic fellow, he is.
His promise to Israel for the next year is that rockets will not be fired unless Gaza is attacked. At the same time he's saying that his government's priorities are to maintain national understanding that Palestinian resistance factions work on. You can't get more two-faced than that. Resistance means firing rockets into Israel. This is what they have been doing every month this year. It never stops. They fire, we retaliate, but usually not every time they fire. An example is what Southern Israel, especially Sderot, has had to endure. Ashkelon's hospital has been under fire. Hamas chased Abbas out and took over in 2006, so Southern Israel has been under the gun ever since.
Even since 2000, all of Israel was being attacked so often that it finally retaliated in the Cast Lead offense. Israel had endured 8 years of 12,000 rockets shot into the country. Finally, on December 27, they started the offense of Operation Cast Lead, which was a war lasting 22 days. It came about when no other nation heeded their cry of help to stop the bombardment into the country. All were warned that they would have to do something about it, and they did. They tried their best to keep from killing innocent civilians, but found it impossible. These terrorists planted their weapons among civilians and in schools, like the cowards that they are. They wanted a high incidence of deaths for their side as it brought sympathy for them, but even more scorn for the Israelis. Israel was dammed if they did and dammed if they didn't. Goldstone of the United Nations even turned on Israel in his investigation and no wonder. He comes from South Africa, a country that had already become anti-Israel.
As I see it, words coming from Hamas make little sense, except in knowing that they want all of Israel for themselves now that the country has been created. People still harbor anti-semitism in that whatever Israel has done in the line of self preservation is deemed evil. Even Jewish people like Goldstone are themselves anti-semitic. We have our share of these self-hating people. What we know is that giving into the demands of such terrorists only incur more that they want. They see Jews as weak beings, again the dhminnis in their eyes and they take more steps to ensure Israel's demise.
It's a scary position to be in for Israel. All nations are turning on her in one form or another from boycotting her products to deligitimating her very existence to supplying her enemies with arms. Iran even has promised to exterminate her with atomic weapons. No other nation has ever needed to have a country, become a country legally and then have everyone turn against her. 62 years of striving to exist not only has been extremely hard on Israelis, but I find so much of the world has been sucked into a form of insanity. Casting stones at a country under attack for 62 years and never offering a helping hand is crazy. Now is the time Israel needs the most help and yet it gets only chastisement-for existing, I guess. Even for things Israel hasn't done, she gets blamed. I just read where the Wiki leak has been blamed on Israel.
I'd love to rewrite the outcome of Israel's birth. The Palestinians would have rumbled as they did, but then would have been talked to seriously by the United Nations. Israel's leaders accepted the humble piece they were awarded and the Palestinians would have also. There never would have been fighting. Palestinians would have remained on the land and would not have rebelled, but would have been most happy as Israeli citizens, or they would have moved into their own half. Our possible distant cousins would have competed with us for pita bake-offs and soccer games, not war and land. But that was not to be. With the teachings of Islam and its attitude towards Jews and the political prowess of Palestinian leadership, Israel and its Western democracy was never going to be accepted into the fold of the Middle East.
Mighty nations have tried to take down Jews and Israel and they have not succeeded. Little Israel may have to pull another rabbit out of the hat, but help is always around her. Right will succeed over might. Just you wait and see. Israel was meant to be a light for the nations. That light cannot be put out.
Resource: Oregonian 12/2/10 p. A10.
