The results of yet another Palestinian opinion poll show that a very sizable portion of that public would still vote Hamas if elections were held today. Many commentators and Western leaders say that means Hamas is an inescapable reality and must be engaged, not isolated. They are wrong.
Conducted by the Jerusalem Media Communications Center, the poll showed that if leadership elections were held today, current “president” Mahmoud Abbas would receive 20.6 percent of the vote, while Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh would be chosen by 18.8 percent of the public.
Clearly, the year-long diplomatic and economic isolation of the Hamas government has not convinced many Palestinians to reconsider their choice of leaders.
A lot of liberals, including the leaders of many European countries, will point to that fact as evidence that, like it or not, Hamas is part of the Palestinian landscape and must be accepted as such.
But the correct answer is not to accept Hamas and hope to moderate its policies through pointless talks. Hamas became popular primarily because of its successful execution of terrorist violence against Israel, and it is not going to renounce the very tactic that brought it to power. The correct answer is to reeducate the Palestinians.
Following World War II, there were a lot of Germans and Japanese who still sympathized and agreed with the policies of the Nazis and the imperial regime in Tokyo. The US and its allies did not throw up their hands and just accept that fact. No, they implemented stringent reeducation programs that have today resulted in Germany and Japan being two of the most unlikely nations to start a war.
As part of the “Oslo” peace accords, the Palestinian Authority was supposed to reeducate the Arabs under its jurisdiction in the same way. But that was where the Western powers that oversaw the peace process departed from the wisdom of their predecessors - they put responsibility for the reeducation in the hands of those who needed to be reeducated. As a result, most Palestinians today see violence against Israel as a legitimate negotiating tactic and will vote for the group that can most successfully kill Jews and score perceived military victories.
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4 comments so far ↓
1 Mr. Cash // Aug 24, 2007 at 3:14 am
Yes Ryan, but how do we do this exactly? So long as Islam rules the roost so to speak, nothing will change. The West has been made aware of this problem and has tried to rectify it without success. So long as the children of the Pals are indoctrinated in their long-standing hatred of the Jews we cannot expect to see peace in our lifetime. This is where I think the comparison to Germany and Japan fail. The German nation was largely Christian and the Japanese were Shinto (I think). Those two nations got into trouble when they turned their back on their heritage. Whereas the rather dubious legacy of Islam has always included hatred of Jews, Christians, other assorted infidels and Muslims deemed not Islamic enough for the mujahideen’s liking. It has always been thus for 1400 years! Do we believe that we can turn this thing around in the space of one generation? Seems unlikely if you ask me. The Palestinians need a change of heart, not a change of tactics if the West wants to seriously engage them in meaningful talks. Until then we have to keep our war footing. No peace til the Prince of Peace arrives!
2 Mr. Cash // Aug 24, 2007 at 3:26 am
Sorry, should have said:
The Palestinians need a change of heart, not a change of tactics if they want the West to seriously engage them in meaningful talks.
Hope that clarifies things. Of course such talks taking place right now are like the building of sand castles on the beach whilst the high tide is coming in. Futile and a fabulous waste of time and energy.
3 Julia Garcia // Aug 27, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Not much on my mind right now, but it is not important. I have just been letting everything happen without me. I just do not have anything to say right now.
4 Jade Giavazzi // Aug 28, 2007 at 4:51 am
I am so thankful for finding your website!
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