Wednesday 16 July 2014

Israel and Hamas

Does the shooting suit both sides?

What does Hamas want? It wants to ensure that no long-term peace deal is made with Israel. Unlike the PLO, Hamas has not [yet] accepted the existence of Israel.

What does Israel want? It wants to avoid reaching a deal with the Palestinians that would entail giving up some of the land it has occupied since 1967.

That is why Hamas, rather than the Palestinian Authority, are the true partners of Israel. They occasionally fight each other, increasing the heat, killing and getting killed, inciting and whipping up the hatred, only to make sure that no compromise is reached. The agendas of the extremes on both sides command the state of affairs.

Both sides are morally wrong; Hamas more evil than Israel and more corrupt than Israel, but then it does not pretend to be a western democracy, cultured, high-tech and European. A few years ago, the then Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, spoke of Israel as a “villa in the jungle”, thereby suggesting that Israel’s neighbours are wild savages. Observing recent [and not so recent] appearances of Israeli politicians makes one wonder whether they haven’t adapted only too well to their surroundings. 

2 comments:

  1. I am not aware that the PLO (often referred to as "Palestinian Authority") has recognized Israel as a Jewish state.
    Nor is it true, as you claim, that Israel does not wish to return ANY of the territories conquered in 1967. In fact it wants to return almost all of it. The remainder, such as Jerusalem, is the territorial bone of contention. Your contributions to the subject remain as misleading as ever, I am sorry to observe.

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    1. Has any other country recognised Israel "as a Jewish state"? This is just a further hurdle that Netanyahu administration has thrown in.

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