Palestine Not Lost?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, The WorldThis is encouraging news:
In the first poll in the territories since Hamas’ victory, 66 percent of respondents said the new government should honor the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to negotiations with Israel. Among Hamas voters, only 12 percent said they chose Hamas for its political agenda, while 43 percent said they were fed up with Fatah’s corruption. The rest said they were hoping for a better life or voted for religious reasons…. The poll confirms that most Palestinians, 58 percent, still believe the conflict with Israel should be resolved on the basis of the two-state principle. A binational state received support from 22 percent, while 10 percent favored a Palestinian state on the entire land.
The question we have to answer right now is will we cut off aid to the Palestinians? Will we not go through the UN to make sure the Palestinian people (not Hamas) get the monetary support they need? I certainly hope so, because otherwise I’m guessing these numbers will start to drop like a rock.
(h/t: The Volokh Conspiracy)
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February 21st, 2006 at 10:00 am
If the Palestinian people truly want peace with Israel, then they should completely understand why the U.S. and our allies are seeking to cut off funding for a Hamas-led republic.
They now have the power to demand their elected leadership to change their charter and recognize the jewish state, else face the consequences of their decisions.
Enough infantilization of poor Arabs. A disciplined approach is more respectful of their human dignity. Treat them like grown-ups and maybe they will act like grown-ups.
February 21st, 2006 at 10:46 am
Well Jimmy, what about the hundreds of millions in tax money that Israel is holding from them that’s rightfully theirs?
Listen, Hamas has had a ceasefire with Israel for the past 18 months, and there has been no violence carried out in their name against their neighbor. That’s a fact. I guess I’m wondering if all that’s holding this up is Hamas’ charter about wiping Israel off the map. I mean, back in the Camp David days, every single country in the Middle East wanted to wipe Israel off the map.
In short, I think we could actually turn Palestine into a friend, much like we’ve done with Egypt and other countries in this region, and this is our chance. I hope we don’t waste it.
February 21st, 2006 at 11:49 am
Hamas is a terrorist organization of the worst kind. Their millions in tax money doesn’t justify killing women and children, and 18 months without violence doesn’t get you a pat on the back. To paraphrase Chris Rock “You’re not SUPPOSED to kill people”
In our current war on terror how could one possible justify having relations with terrorists, or the people that overwhelmingly elected them. This is one of the rare cases where I think our contry’s administration has it right.
February 21st, 2006 at 12:21 pm
There has been an increase in rocket attacks into Israel since the Gaza pullout. You can say the increase in violence is not “officially Hamas” but thats B.S.; every terrorist group in palestine is interconnected and it is the job of the Palestinian authority to reign in the militants anyway.
I can’t believe I’m hearing you say that we should make freinds with a terrorist organisation whos explicit fundamental goal is the eradication of the Jewish race.
Every penny sent to terrorists for humanitarian aid either frees up money for terrorist activity, or has a good chance of being laundered to buy rockets.
If the palestinians end violence and work towards peace with the Nation of Israel, they get everything. If they continue to work towards the destruction of their neighbors, they should get nothing. They need to be forthcoming with their goals so we know who we are empowering.
February 21st, 2006 at 1:50 pm
While I do agree that the administration has the right to withhold aide to the new Hamas administration, you can’t help but see Israel’s refusal to give taxes to palestine that is owed to them as a means to financially control their neighbor. All this friendly neighbor crap is for the birds. Israel is just as abusive to palestinians as palestinians are threatening to Israel.
So, do we alienate the palestinians, cause them to turn to middle eastern allies for funds, perhaps Syria. This isn’t going to prevent them from aquiring rockets or mortars.
Sharon was right, split from them entirely. And the United States should encourage this process, but not on Israel’s terms. Israel should conform to UN resolution 242 and pull back to pre-67 borders. This way, the Palestinians can have no arguments regarding territory. They will of course still call for the destruction of Israel, but we have removed any protection from the core of their interest to do so.
Israel has been moving Unilaterally on this issue for far too long, and this is only allowing the palestinians means to justify their aggression, and people like me the ability to sympathize with them.
February 21st, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Sure. The fight to protect yourself from terrorism IS terrorism. I get it. This whole “unending cycle of violence” Spielburg crap doesn’t investigate history. What came first the chicken or the egg? this is not a rhetorical question. The chicken came first…Pan-Arab Islamic anti-semitism after WWI (unless you believe Jews buying land and migrating to israel from europe in the late 1800′s is justification for violence).
Keep the tax money in an escroe account collecting interest until Hamas changes its tune. Meanwhile the palestinian workers can send money back to their families as remmitances.
I guess we should give Texas back to Mexico too. The Turks tried to conquer southern russia and the suez in WWI, they lost and as a penalty the empire was dissolved. Syria and Egypt tried a mass extinction of Jews in 1967, they lost and as a penalty old Jerusalem is Israel’s now. Frankly Im glad.
There are actual plans out there to tear down the Church of the Holy Sepalcre and replace it with the Al- Jesud mosque. F**k that.
February 21st, 2006 at 2:38 pm
I would just like to point out that the state of Israel has much to thank to a terrorist — Menachem Begin — the King David Hotel, ring a bell anybody? Anyway, is it possibly the Hamas is more than the sum of its terrorist parts (not asked rhetorically)?
February 21st, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Yes. Again, they have been at “peace” with Israel for the past 18 months. You can speculate all you want about whether or not they helped terrorist attacks, but the CW on this is that they’re respecting the cease fire. Again, I’ll remind everybody of the Middle Eastern nations who have since followed Egypt’s lead and are now not at odds with Israel. These things have to start somewhere even if the circumstance are less than ideal.
I guess I’d ask to all of those who suggest my ideas are foolish, what would you do? And what consequences do you think those actions would have?
February 21st, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Jimmy-
Ardent defenders of Israel often make your arguments, it’s tiring. Should we give back the US to the Indians B.S. is a weak argument, no matter which side of the debate you stand. You can’t solely look at this debate from the “this is where we are now perspective”. To the winner goes the spoil is not applicable when you are considering countries in the world order that we live in. With that in mind, should the Arab countries surrounding Israel come together and decide to take back lands (supposing they succeed), using the “if you can conquer it its yours mentality”, they have just as much right to the land that Israel sits on as Israel has to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
February 21st, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Israel has always been up front about its desire to withdraw from occupied territories if there is a peace agreement and those lands are not used to stage more attacks. However, they will not give back old jerusalem (which is relitively small in area), and the palestinians are just gonna have to deal with it.
All long-winded sectarian conflicts seem like an endless cycle of violence and revenge (with massacres and crimes on both sides), but in this case the root lies with the initial migration of jews to their ancient homeland, and the anti-semetic response by fundamentalist militias and the Egyptian and Syrian sultanates who did not want to go down in history as the rulers who allowed Jews to gain overship of waquif (once land is conquered by muslim armies, it must remain under Islam until the Day of Ressurection, so said Mohammad).
This causality remains important today, because the original Islamic antisemetism has not been cured, and motivates every aspect of Hamas’ posturing.
We should hold fast to these sanctions, and now that there is democracy and accountability in the political system there, change is bound to happen like it did in South Africa, and not like what happened in Iraq for 13 years.
February 22nd, 2006 at 1:14 pm
If Israel refuses to give back any part of Palestine that is has under control, then they are not being upfront. Secondly, by their lack of control of their right wing settlers and allow them constant intrusions into Controlled Palestinian terroritories, they seem about as upfront and honest as the Palestinian gov’t seems when they say that they are working to control their millitias. Thirdly, they would still be in violation of UN Resolution 242, which they have been for quite some time now. “Just deal with it”? That’s truly sound logic. That migration bit is just ludicrous. You make it sound so natural a progression as the Sparrows returning to Capistrano. The Jews were placed there with force by the British and then the Allies during the first and second world wars. Prior to that there were jews in the middle east, and they lived peacefully with their neighbors. Now I don’t disagree with you that there is now antisemitism in the middle east, and there are fundamentalist millitias, but the blame should not fall solely on the countries of the middle east. There is plenty of blame to go around. I can’t think that you would bring South Africa into this, when you consider the United States lack of initiative in that instance, but OK.
March 7th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
i like this one…keep it up