Gaza: The "Blame Israel Syndrome"

I think we should give this one a miss. Yes he is slightly deluded and naive, but he says openly in the Independent (of all places) that Hamas is antisemitic and fundamentalist, and that he loathes Hamas. A man like that deserves latitude. We should not be seen as attacking every moving target, this does not necessarily help Israel or honest reporting in general. Let us have lattitude and offer him silence. Yes I disagree with him, but I want him to keep saying *on the pages of the Independent* that Hamas is an antisemitic (not merely anti-Zionist whatever it means) organisation. It is important and valuable that this be said for every opponent of Israel to hear. Compared to that the ridiculous statistics that he mentions are small fry, everyone knows that all statistics confirm the position of whoever orders them.

Posted by: Alex Shafarenko at Jun 19, 2007 2:54:54 AM

This is a mistake. I heard and read reports of women and children protesting against the Hamas takeover. Things are not going to be very nice for women in the Hamas Islamic Regime's area. We should be praying for the inhabitants of this area, that they may find a way to get out from under their Palestinian oppressors. I heard that the women and children's protest had been brutally squashed by the Hamas fanatics. This is merely a sign of the times, not something which I would suggest we make much of.
The reporter is not unfair. Kindly remove this from your briefing.

Regards

Rabbi Zvi.

Posted by: Rabbi Zvi Solomons at Jun 19, 2007 11:15:31 AM

Kindly turn your attention to the Financial Times, where in today's edition (June 19), in addition to an editorial by Gideon Rachman entitled [Israel's]"Missed Opportunities, Gaza, and the Spread of Jihadism," and in addition to a cartoon by Ingram Pinn depicting Ehud Olmert welcoming Abbas as he pushes a fractious Hamas off his desk and into a waste basket, there is an unsigned editorial that asserts in the first paragraph that "the deep rifts in Palestinian society have been exacerbated by the imposition of two rival governments for the West Bank and Gaza."

The *imposition*? Did Palestinians themselves not impose this fate on one another?

The piece goes on to blame (for the 20th or 40th time) Israel and the US, and secondarily, the EU, for the Palestinians' fractiousness, which it suggests is the result of the west supporting Abbas and not supporting Hamas. It recommends that the EU, US, and Israel not "take sides" among the Palestinians, but instead encourage "reconciliation" between Palestinian secularists and Islamists: "The more Hamas supporters are isolated, the more radical they will become - and the less likely the prospect of peace. That is the danger of a western policy that deepens the divide between Palestinians rather than reconciles them."

Rachman's editorial concludes with the same sentiment.

The FT apparently subscribes to an 'Arabs as furniture' world view, in which the west/Israel acts and Arabs/Muslims, having no will of their own, do only what is natural for objects to which things have been done.

It apparently does not occur to the editors that people they view in this way, if the editors are correct about them, cannot possibly be entrusted with statehood.

There is something tragic in this kind of "support" for Palestinians' right to self determination.

Posted by: J. Crohn at Jun 19, 2007 10:37:20 PM

WE ARE BACK ON THE CHILDHOOD TRACK THAT IT IS SOMEBODY ELSES FAULT NOT MINE. PEACE FOR ALL WILL OCCUR WHEN ALL ACKNIWLEGE THEIR RESPONSIBLITY. AND STOP BLAMING OTHERS.

Posted by: Melvin Beitscher at Jun 23, 2007 9:10:04 PM

To put it very simply, I tell my children not to hit,because they will probably get hit back. If children can understand this, why can't Hamas? If you want peace then don't lob bombs into other countries.

Posted by: Eric at Jan 15, 2009 12:28:49 AM