Support for Hamas crosses a line

Desperate times call for desperate measures – but there's still a limit. Palestinians voted overwhelmingly for Hamas during the 2006 elections, frustrated both with Fatah's corrupt rule and Israel's utter intransigence at the negotiating table. Anyone who wondered why Palestinians would usher in such extreme leaders need only have looked at how extreme their circumstances had become, and if anything was to blame for driving them into the arms of the Hamas militants, it was decades of occupation at the hands of Israel's rulers.

However, just because Israel deserves castigating for its behaviour over the years does not mean that Hamas is immune from reprimand: attacks on Israel for the brutal occupation and on Hamas for its wanton murder of civilians are not mutually exclusive concepts, and anyone who thinks that they are only makes matters worse – especially in these dark days of Cast Lead.

Out and out support of those who openly advocate the indiscriminate slaying of non-combatants is inexcusable, whatever the context in which the view is expressed. Yet, in protests around the globe this weekend, that is exactly what was done – as witnessed by hundreds of protesters proudly flying the yellow flag of Hezbollah and the green and white standard of Hamas.

Source

Well written and balanced article I'd like to share with you. Although Israel has been wrong in many ways and this conflict is more nuanced than 'Hamas firing rockets into Israel', Hamas is a terrorist organization that doesn't deserve to be supported. I feel for the Palestinian people who suffer the most, not for Hamas. Even though I understand their desperation, nothing justifies the killing of innocent civilians.




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[edit on 8-1-2009 by 12m8keall2c]

Great find Mdv2. The article was great. Definately good food for thought. Common sense and all that are definately missing when it comes to Israel/Palestine.

Hamas won the Gaza Elections.


And at that point both the US and Israel refused to work with them at all.


GO DEMOCRACY!

Well, sadly for the Zionists, according to international law Hamas must be supported - as they are the legitimate, democratically elected representatives of the people of Palestine. There are lizerally dozens of other dictatorial regimes that are not only supported and recognized by the international community, they are granted a place at the UN table despite their human rights records or the fact that they were NOT elected by their people.

So whats the US's excuse for killing inocent women and children.
9/11 ? - Your a hypocrite.

reply to post by Mdv2

Hamas is a terrorist organization that doesn't deserve to be supported.

i agree. but once again it begs the question...

why did israel FUND hamas in the 70's and 80's?
if hamas dosnt deserve to be supported why did israel support them?

this is the most crucial point to understanding the current conflict. hamas is israels creation. israel created hamas to be terrorists so the israeli state has an excuse to comit genocide against anyone living in gaza

Originally posted by HunkaHunka
Hamas won the Gaza Elections.


And at that point both the US and Israel refused to work with them at all.


GO DEMOCRACY!

The US has greatly failed in the last decade when it comes to diplomacy. All they have reached with their policy of not talking to organizations and governments they don't consider to be friendly, is isolation. This isolation is definitely not the key to peace. Therefore, one can argue that peace with these specific countries might not be in the US interest.

I agree with you that Hamas hasn't had a chance. They offered Israel to discuss a two-state solution, but Israel refused to even speak to them. Instead, they started isolating them, like the US does to its 'enemies.

Should they have given dialog a chance, the situation might have been much different by now.

Additionally, the fact that Israel continues to annex more and more of the land belonging to the Palestinian territories is one of the primary reasons for Hamas' violence.

Like I said, I understand their desperation. The US ensures Israel is never condemned through the UN security council, allowing Israel to be above the law - they have ignored international laws time after time with US support, while the same country condemned Russia's retaliation on Georgia. This gives them the ultimate freedom to do whatever to want to the Palestinians, and I cannot deny their only purpose is to move Palestinians out of their territories with the goal of creating a greater Israel. This ideology is supported by the leading Israeli party: Kadima.

However, the bottom line is that civilians should never be targeted, there's simply no motive that justifies that. If you support Western democracy, unlike some Western governments, you cannot support Hamas' violence against innocent civilians.

Good article.

I have said and stated that Hamas is the problem and the reason peace is not possible at this moment. That is not to say that Israel is right in what it is doing either. The civilians on both sides are the ones paying the price. Sooner or later these two sides will have to learn to live alongside one another or this innocent bloodshed will never end.

Originally posted by jam321
The civilians on both sides are the ones paying the price. Sooner or later these two sides will have to learn to live alongside one another or this innocent bloodshed will never end.

The question remains whether Israel truly wants to live alongside Palestinians. The majority of Palestinians has accepted (approx. 70%) that they will never get all of the land back they used to live on and would be more than happy with a two-state solution.
One can argue that Hamas' terroristic background was reason enough for Israel not even to engage in negotiations, but before Hamas was elected, Israel also allowed settlers to build new settlements on the West. All Rice said was 'that's not helpful to a solution'. As mentioned, I think that the Israeli government wants the Palestinians to move to other Arab countries so they can start creating a 'greater Israel' like supported by Kadima. We should be objective about Hamas, but also about Israel since they have done too little to reach a real solution.

Also the US and the EU are to blame. The US for its biased position in this conflict, with its power it could have reached much more than the Oslo treaty, and the EU for its powerless approach towards this conflict; coming forth from guilt feelings.