Reflections: Hamas Should Recognize the Existence of Israel

Summary

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Since electing Hamas earlier this year, every Palestinian has become a terrorist till proven otherwise. In legal lingo it is called an "unindicted co-conspirator." The logic is that if they talk like terrorists, act like terrorists and elect indicted terrorists as their leaders then they must be terrorists. This logic was fiercely argued by The Detroit News editor, Nolan Finley, back in February in his article entitled "Palestinians failed democracy, not the other way around." It is a logic that caters to the prevalent American public opinion, which was confirmed by the U.S. Congress when last month it passed the "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006."

Let's take this logic one step further because that's where Israel is headed; every Palestinian is a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode. What we do about it: we isolate them by building massive prison walls around their towns, starve them and hope that they start killing each other. That's exactly the policy Israel has followed in the past three years. When Palestinian gunmen began shooting at each other over a month ago the Israeli government could not contain its euphoria and began releasing statements that expressed "concern" for the humanitarian plight of Palestinians. The media responded positively to the signal and began covering the "plight of Palestinians" focusing on the "violent" factor that controlled their society.

I have contended for the past 20 years, and from the very first spark of the 1987 intifada, that the Palestinian cause is a public relations battle for the hearts and minds of Americans. Young boys throwing rocks at soldiers will not liberate Palestine but if done consistently and without escalation it will draw the attention of the world to solve the problem. It succeeded in convening the 1991 Madrid International Peace Conference. But Palestinians have lost the majority of their gains since 9/11 and the term "terrorist" appears to be sticking. This term is efficient and convenient to describe anyone who disagrees with America's or Israel's policies. It is applied liberally much the same way that many Muslims abuse the term "kafir" which means infidel, and both terms are misused to dehumanize anyone who doesn't subscribe to a narrow interpretation of a certain creed. The prospect of peace diminishes as more Palestinians are branded "terrorists" and more Israelis and Americans are branded "kafir."

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Reflections: Hamas Should Recognize the Existence of Israel

Since electing Hamas earlier this year, every Palestinian has become a terrorist till proven otherwise. In legal lingo it is called an "unindicted co-conspirator." The logic is that if they talk like terrorists, act like terrorists and elect indicted terrorists as their leaders then they must be terrorists. This logic was fiercely argued by The Detroit News editor, Nolan Finley, back in February in his article entitled "Palestinians failed democracy, not the other way ar...

See the full content of this document

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