The Hamas Victory - A Good Thing

Last week the terrorist organization Hamas won a pretty decisive victory in the Palestinian legislative elections. Hamas is an interesting group, to say the least. It has perfected the combination of a terrorist organization committed to the murder of innocents (all Jews everywhere, as a matter of fact) with a social organization that has promoted welfare programs and health care for the Palestinians. The social programs provide cover for the terrorist core of the group. It makes it easy for people to support the extermination of Israel while claiming that they are actually supporting positive programs for the welfare of the Palestinian people. It's not a new tactic, all the other terrorist entities are doing it. It is the culmination of the theory of moral equivalence.

I was not surprised by Hamas' win. Contrary to the media's spin, neither was the Bush Administration, nor was any intelligent observer of the Middle East. Hamas has been doing well in local elections for years. The only reason it never ran in the last legislative election was because of a deal it had brokered with Yasser Arafat. It was necessary for the defacto Palestinian leader and the leader's party (Fatah) to give the appearance of wanting peace, and of recognizing Israel's right to exist, in order to bring in millions of dollars of foreign aid to the Palestinians. At the same time, Arafat and Fatah gave their explicit approval to Hamas and organizations like it to continue their war against Israel, only declaring 'truce' in order to gain time to rebuild after being weakened by Israeli attacks. As transparently deceitful as Arafat and his desire for 'peace' with Israel was, it was nothing in comparison with the corruption prevalent in Arafat's Palestinian Authority. As Palestinians are now realizing, the PA was designed to enrich Arafat and his cronies and to support terrorism - not to benefit ordinary Palestinians. That the Palestinians turned away from Fatah and towards Hamas, even though it is not in their best interest, is logical and understandable.

Critics of President Bush acknowledge that the United States shouldn't recognize Hamas until it disavows their desire to destroy Israel, but they say that Bush should have stated this before the election. I disagree. If Bush did, he would have been accused of meddling with the Palestinian election - and Hamas would have won anyway. Now the Palestinians have what they wanted, for better or for worse, and can blame no-one other than themselves for the results.

In fact I think that Hamas' victory will ultimately be seen as a good thing for the Mideast Peace Process, although not in the way that Hamas itself might see it. Hamas' charter states that Jews must be killed and vanquished from the earth, and that "there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.". For years the Palestinians have hidden their real agenda behind a ruling party that 'supported' the peace process, while also supporting the goals of terrorist organizations like Hamas. Now, with Hamas in charge, there will be no more facade. Critics of Israel and of the United States always said that the Palestinians support peace with Israel and that they should not be punished for the actions of the terrorists in the background. They no longer have that opportunity. The true enemy of peace is in the forefront for everyone to see.

Now it will not be a shadowy terrorist organization that will be launching suicide attacks against Israel, it will be the official state entity of the Palestinians. It is an opportunity for the real supporters of a two-state solution and enduring peace to finally tell the Palestinians that the international community is no longer going to tolerate the games that Arafat and his ilk used to play. Hamas has already attacked Egyptian forces at the Gaza checkpoint after the Israeli pullout. I would imagine that Egypt would like to make sure that those skirmishes don't spread. There will probably be some sort of an internal civil war between Hamas and Fatah. I imagine Jordan doesn't want to see much of that happening on its border. In fact, the only true allies of a Hamas-led Palestine will be Syria and Iran. This could be once in a lifetime chance for not only Israel and the United States, but the international community including most Arab nations, to draw draw the line with Syria, Iran, and their sponsored terrorist entities in Palestine. Choose peace with Israel and a real state, complete with internationally recognized borders. Chose anything else, and you will be crushed, and the international community will install a peaceful government. Self-determination or suicide, Hamas. Your decision.