The War against Hamas

The military situation between Israel and the Palestinians has caused much suffering to the Palestinian population. Many have abandoned their homes and have nowhere to go. The suffering is horrendous as army bulldozers and tractors destroy and level the terrain. A mother and two children were killed in Gaza during this operation. We are all upset when innocent Palestinians lose their lives and their intense suffering because of this operation. It is doubtful if the Palestinian Hamas leadership has pangs of conscience when their terrorist wing deliberately kills innocent Israelis!

Despite the stepping up of Israeli Security Forces operations against the Palestinians, there are still no signs that the Palestinians wish to negotiate an end to the Qassam Rocket fire into Sderot and Ashkelon or release the kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
There are reports that Ismail Haniyeh the Hamas prime minister has called for a cease-fire, but Israel has refused to accept the terms of the cease-fire. Therefore, the fighting goes on and it seems as if it will last for quite some time.

The Palestinians have achieved nothing by their attitude. It is doubtful even if Haniyeh has any influence on the Hamas terrorist groups. The Palestinian Authority under PM Haniyeh is losing control over the situation and it seems highly unlikely that the Palestinian terrorists will agree to cease their terror despite the appeals of their so-called political leadership. Hamas is leading the Palestinian People to total disaster and untold suffering. They lost the opportunity after the withdrawal of Israel from Gaza. The choice was in their hands whether to establish responsible government to improve the lot of their people or to continue the bloody path of terrorism against Israel by allowing their Islamist fantasies to dictate their future tactics. They chose the latter and therefore they shall pay a heavy price for their folly.

Many of us who are in the peace camp now believe that the Palestinian leadership has no desire to come to terms with Israel’s existence. The Palestinian violence since October 2000 has brought this message home. Our dreams of a two state solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, security and dignity have been shattered. Continuing Palestinian violence against Israel has divided and destroyed the Israeli peace camp. If there were any doubts as to the ruling Hamas intentions, it would be a good idea to refresh one’s memory by reading the Hamas Charter that leaves one without any doubt as to what the Palestinian leadership wishes to achieve. The Hamas Charter promotes genocide of the Jewish people in Israel! It is difficult to engage in negotiations with a Hamas leadership that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and justifies her destruction.


The basic problem between Israel and the Palestinians is the eternal fight over the same piece of land. Both sides are adamant in their claim for their right to the land that is Israel. Many of us do have certain pangs of conscience over the refugee problem created by Israel’s War of Independence of 1948. Unfortunately, over the years this problem became more complex because of extremist Islamic overtones in the claims for the right of return of the 1948 refugees. Moslem fanatics refuse to allow the establishment of a non-Moslem country on land that they considered Moslem land. While this attitude remains, there will never be peace between Israel and the Palestinians. It would be a futile exercise if there would be any future unilateral withdrawals. Further withdrawals would result in future terrorist incursions into Israel in the form of further Qassam rocket fire, kidnappings, suicide bombings and who knows what else as is evidenced in Gaza.

The blame for Palestinian suffering is the Hamas leadership who has declared war on Israel. In wars, innocent people suffer casualties and it is no different in this war. The Hamas terrorists have killed innocent Israelis on purpose.

Meanwhile UN agencies blame Israel for the situation in Gaza. The situation in Gaza has reached a new low with tremendous suffering to the Palestinian People. They do not blame Hamas for the crisis of the Palestinians. They accuse Israel of human rights violations against the Palestinians. As usual, the accusations are one-sided against Israel. No condemnation comes from the UN agencies against Hamas for initiating terror against Israel’s citizens and thus triggering Israeli Army action against them. Israel is always under fire from the UN in her attempt to safeguard the security of her citizens that is her basic right as it is the right of all countries in the world to protect their citizens from terror. The US went into Afghanistan to fight terror against US citizens as well as Iraq and to ensure her interests there. Yet the world blames Israel who has been subjected to Palestinian terror of the worst kind over the last six years especially.

There is no doubt that the ball lies in the Palestinian court for the suffering of the Palestinian People! The UN agencies should be laying the blame on Hamas and its allied terror groups who have declared war on Israel by their actions of terror. While the UN remains soft on terror, Islamist terrorists will use this means increasingly in order to achieve their aims of destroying Israel.