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The
irony of the Israeli hand-wringing regarding Hamas' victory is that it
is Fateh's militant wing that is fighting back, not Hamas. Yet Israel
wants Fateh back! Hamas is stating clearly that under international law
they have a Right to Resist (which is true) and under international law
they have a Right to Return (which is also true). Resolution 181 under
which Israel was created did not allow for transfers of population and
the displaced population of Palestine, if it wishes to return, has a
right to return (as do all displaced people throughout the world.)
Basically, Palestinian are doubly protected under law - which Israel
with its partner and enabler the USA ignores and continuously attempts
to invalidate.
Fateh is angry with Hamas because they are frugal. Simply put, a Fateh
minister might receive $200,000 per year, whereas Hamas leaders have
pledged to make due on $2000 or less. Fateh big shots drive Mercedes.
Hamas big shots drive beat-up old cars - and why shouldn't they? They
know that Israel will only bomb the car - why waste money on something
that will end up in little pieces? All joking aside, in addition to a
common sense philosophy they are committed to restore Palestine. That
means all resources must be carefully utilized to secure the greater
good of Palestine. Hamas is also fearless in the face of death which is
terrifying to Israelis who are obsessed with security. Many in Israel
see nothing wrong when well-armored soldiers kill Palestinian children
throwing stones to protect their loved ones as the IDF uses tanks and
bulldozers to assault their villages and homes. Even the children of
Palestine are fearless in the face of death.
Hamas hopes to create calm out of chaos - a chaos that is Israel's
making from dehydration and starvation tactics and non-stop assaults.
Hamas is the honest man in the crooked world. If Israel continues to
play hardball and escalates its crimes against humanity - the whole
world is watching including the Arab world which they have chosen to
alienate from Day 1 in 1948 by creating the highly illegal Absentee
Property Laws which were strengthened in the 1950s, followed by the 1965
Planning Laws. Based on these laws Israel believes it has a right to
ethnically cleanse and create other hardships on Arabs in Israel and
increasingly in Palestine. Frankly, Israel does not recognize a shared
humanity with Arabs though they would like to make them dependant on
Israeli goods and services. But as Israel laughs up its sleeve, the
Arabs are not amused.
Personally I find it insulting that Zionist Israel claims to represent a
Jewish state reflecting Jewish values. The fact is that millions of
Jews throughout the world are outraged by Israeli Zionist tactics. And
over a million True Torah Jews believe that Israel does NOT have a right
to exist and is in defiance of G-d's law. For people to assume that
Israeli represents the Jews creates anti-Semitism because Israel is a
Jews-Only state that subsumes all other people beneath its claim of
dominant rights. Master race philosophies whether disguised as Aryan or
American Supremacist or Chosen One designations when enacted always
create havoc and backlash and horror as Israel has done and continues to
do, and as America does in its pre-emption policy that claims a right to
murder and maim innocent people in Iraq, South America and wherever else
we wish to steal resources or create strategic bases.
If
Israel wishes to survive it must adapt and shed its racist skin. Let's
face it, Israel is a Western state in an Eastern region which insists on
bucking all known international laws regarding human rights and defiles
in language and deed everything Eastern. Palestinians have existed in
harmony with their land for centuries and date back to the Persian
empire (approximately 500 BC - based on archival maps and other
resources). Israel is a nation of newcomers that is creating
urban/suburban sprawl and pollution throughout the region.
I
know there are good people in Israel who are not racist and truly love
the land - somewhere between 25-30% wouldn't mind living next to an Arab
according to latest polls. And Hamas has made it clear, it's issue is
not with the Jews but with the racist Zionist state of Israel.
Historically Palestine has been a crossroad of civilizations and for the
greater part of its history has existed in relative harmony with all
race and creeds, as it does today (despite occasional clan warfare).
Hamas was elected for the good of Palestinians, not Israelis. If
allowed to reorganize and streamline the Palestinian infrastructure
and create security within Palestine, let it be. That is what they
were elected to do and will make a good partner in peace - honest and
fair-minded. But if the Israeli Occupation continues to create havoc
within Palestine, though Hamas may not take direct action, they are
well within intentionally guaranteed rights to allow others to resist
the state-sponsored terrorism Israel insists on.
*
Genevieve Cora Fraser is a poet, playwright and journalist as well as a
long-standing environmental and human rights activist living in
Massachusetts.
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