Posted on 01/28/2006 3:21:28 AM PST by ex-Texan
The Palestinians have messed up so many opportunities to build their own state that it's tempting to conclude they value victimhood over statehood.
It's been more than five years since Yasser Arafat walked away from an Israeli proposal that would have given his long-suffering people a country.
Instead of offering a counter-proposal, he launched an intefadeh that has resulted in death and misery for both sides and virtual economic collapse of the Palestinian economy.
The latest catastrophic setback is the overwhelming victory of Hamas in this week's Palestinian elections.
The Palestinians rejected the corruption-riddled Fatah party, which has been in power for decades, only to embrace a terrorist group dedicated to Israel's destruction.
The enormity of the paradox is stunning. Yes, the Palestinians voted in free elections. But they chose a party that will not only take away their freedoms but will trample any chances of peace into the dust.
With whom is Israel expected to negotiate now? Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been a bit of a lame duck since he's been unwilling to disarm the militants in his midst, but at least he appears committed to the peace process.
Hamas, on the other hand, doesn't even pretend to support talks with Israel.
"We consider Israel to be an enemy, not an ally," Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar said during a televised debate with a Palestinian Authority official that aired last Sunday.
"We will not negotiate with Israel," he declared flatly.
(Thanks to the Middle East Media Research Institute for the invaluable translations.)
One of the Hamas candidates in Wednesday's election was a woman who boasted that three of her sons died while engaging in terrorist activities against Israel.
"I am proud and honoured to be a terrorist for the sake of Allah," she said in a TV interview last month, adding she's willing to lose all 10 of her sons to terrorism.
"(Israelis) may live under the banner of the Islamic state. That is the future of Palestine that we are striving towards," she explained.
The great irony is that the Palestinians have democratically elected a party that has no intention of respecting the rights of a neighbouring state.
For that matter, Hamas doesn't give a hoot about the freedom of its own people, points out Aurel Braun, a University of Toronto professor of international relations.
Hamas is dedicated to the most extreme forms of Shariah law and religious intolerance, he says.
"They are in many respects similar to the Taliban."
The Palestinians have the right to elect whoever they want as leaders, of course. But they shouldn't be surprised if the world's democracies turn their backs on them.
Canada, the U.S. and the European Union should sever all relations with the Palestinians and cut off funding, Braun says.
"We have a right ... to express our revulsion at the choice that they have made," he says.
Stephen Harper is right that a true democracy must renounce terrorism. The Palestinians must decide whether they want to be international pariahs or part of the civilized world.
As Braun notes, there's more to democracy than an election. It's also about the rule of law and respecting other countries. Until the Palestinians acknowledge that, statehood will continue to elude them.
Meanwhile, with terrorists winning formal control next door, Israel should continue its strategy of unilateral disengagement from its neighbours.
The Palestinians have chosen a band of savages to lead them. Now they must live with it.
E-mail Mindy Jacobs at mjacobs@edmsun.com.
Letters to the editor should be sent to mailbag@edmsun.com.
Terrorists sponsored by state terrorism deserve to be wiped out totally. It is time to give the Israelis a free hand.
Birds of a feather.
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series -No. 1051: "Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi on Hamas Jerusalem Day Online: 'We are a Nation of Jihad and Martyrdom'; 'The Resistance in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon Must Go On'; 'We Stand Alongside Our Brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad'" (December 18, 2005)
FreeRepublic.com (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3159944,00.html): "ARAB EMIRATES: HAMAS FOUNDER DIES" (SNIPPET: "Halil Quka, one of the founders of Hamas, died at the age of 58 in the United Arab Emirates. In the 1980s Quka was considered one of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Gaza, second only to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. He was banished from Gaza in the mid-1980s.") (October 26, 2005)
WorldNetDaily.com: "HAMAS 'CAPABLE OF U.S. ATTACKS' Terrorism experts warning nation potentially at risk from militants" by Aaron Klein (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "JERUSALEM - Hamas has cells inside the United States that are technically capable of attacking the country, terrorism experts and senior security officials told WorldNetDaily.") (October 16, 2005)
ADNK.com (AKI): Tel Aviv - "MIDDLE EAST: FIRST HAMAS FEMALE BOMB MAKER CAUGHT, SAYS ISRAEL" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Israeli military has detained a Gaza Strip woman suspected of being the first female bomb-maker employed by the militant Palestinian group Hamas, an Israeli newspaper has reported. Samar Sabih, 22, was sent by Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to train new explosive experts, Tel Aviv daily Haaretz said on Tuesday. Sabih was among a number of suspected militants in recent Israeli military raids, the report said.") (October 11, 2005)
INTELLIGENCE.org.il - INTELLIGENCE AND TERRORISM INFORMATION CENTER at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S.): "'HAMASTAN' - A PALESTINIAN RADICAL ISLAMIST STATE, RULED BY HAMAS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The socio-political makeup of “Hamastan” (a Palestinian radical Islamist state, ruled by Hamas), as described in interviews granted by Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip. An alternative to the Palestinian Authority, the agenda presented by Mahmoud al-Zahar is based on strict enforcement of radical Islamic codes in politics, society, and culture. “Hamastan”, according to Al-Zahar, will become an inseparable part of the global radical Islamic effort spearheaded by the Muslim Brotherhood.") (October 9, 2005)
JIHAD WATCH.org (HAARETZ): "ASSAD SAID TO HAVE GIVEN HAMAS, JIHAD GREEN LIGHT FOR TERRORISM" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this month gave Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives in Damascus a green light to carry out terror attacks and escalate fighting against Israel, Israel Radio said Wednesday, quoting a high-level Palestinian Authority intelligence dispatch, which was reportedly passed on to Egypt and Israel. Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said Wednesday that Israel was aquainted with the dispatch.") (September 28, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 983: "COMMANDER OF HAMAS MILITARY WING WOMEN'S UNIT: 'Our Members Yearn for Martyrdom'" (September 9, 2005) (Read More...)
JNEWSWIRE.com: "HAMAS: CHRISTIAN ZIONISM IS OUR ENEMY" by Jerusalem Newswire Editiorial Staff (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Hamas terrorist organization has singled out Christian supporters of Israel, putting them on notice that it views their actions as "criminal," making them enemies of the Palestinian Arabs.") (August 22, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 964: "AN INTERVIEW WITH HAMAS LEADER DR. MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar that appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat on August 18, 2005.") (August 19, 2005)
MEMRITV.org - Transcript - Clip No. 731: "HAMAS REPRESENTATIVE IN LEBANON OSAMA HAMDAN: THERE IS A BEGINNING OF EUROPEAN UNDERSTANDING TOWARDS ARMED RESISTANCE" (TRANSCRIPT SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on June 24, 2005") (June 27, 2005)
ARUTZ SHEVA.com: "HAMAS BOMB-MAKER STAR OF SYRIAN PRODUCED TV SERIES A 12-part series on the life of the “father of suicide bombings,” Hamas bomb-maker Yihye Ayyash is set to be aired on the Lebanese-based Hizbullah satellite television station al-Manar." (April 18, 2005)
JIHAD WATCH.org (YNET): "PALESTINIAN GIRL HIDES GUN IN UNDIES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The soldiers in the Balata refugee camp, a terrorist hotbed, found the gunman inside his house and ordered him to surrender his weapon. He refused, saying he didn't have it. After questioning, they found the man's sister had hidden it her underwear. Troops then arrested the Hamas terrorist. They also found a gun holster and bullets inside the building.") (April 16, 2005) (Read More...)
WorldNetDaily.com: "DOCUMENTS SHOW ARAFAT PAID FOR DISCO BOMBING Sent Thank-You Note to Family of Terrorist Who Killed 21, Injured 120" by Aaron Klein (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The attack on the Dolphinarium was one of the most brutal massacres of the Palestinian intifadah, killing 21 people, mostly teens, on a Friday night in June 2001. More than 120 people were injured in the powerful blast carried out by Hamas terrorist Hassan Khutari.") (September 15, 2004)
IACSP.com: "ABDULLAH ASSAM: THE MAN BEFORE BIN LADEN" by Steve Emerson (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Those who met Azzam were dazzled by his spellbinding oratorical skills, his capabilities as a military strategist, his religious leadership, and his interminable energy. Azzam helped bring about the mobilization of the Muslim Brotherhood movement more than any other leader. Today, the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank is called the Abdellah Azzam Brigades.")
The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
They should just complete the security the fence around the Gaze Strip and West Bank and cut off all monetary help. Let the savages wallow in the filth and despair that years of Arafat "victocratic leadership" has brought them.
"Palestinians choose savages"?
Palestinians ARE savages. Murdering bloody savages.
The mother of ten is a savage, too.
Glad to see even more sanity from our neighbors to the North.
Palestinians...or democrats?
Thank you kindly for posting those great links!
It's one thing for rich Saudis and the Iranian mad mullahs to contribute to the intifada, but let's see them feed and care for six million Palestinians.
bump
Never, ever deal with terrorists - to do so is a signed death warrant.
If America's leadership has the testicular fortitude to stick by their claim of not dealing with terrorists, it should be known every Palistinian just alienated any possibility of the US's involvement in any negotiations for a Palistinian peace - even of calling upon Israel's use of restraint in dealing with them.
My server, on my home page provides news and a video option on some things. I watched, right after the election results, an interview with "The Naive One", Jimmy "Peanut Vendor" Carter. He opined that this election was one of the best he'd ever seen and then went on to make the case for continued funding to the Palestinians, giving his assurance (opinion only) that funneling said monies via the UN would guarantee it got straight to the people. The UN as a reputable money funneling vehicle? HA! Can you imagine a a bigger MORON on the world stage than Carter? To make such a statement and this, even after the interviewer has cautioned him about the reality of how the money might be mishandled.
After al Zawahiri I would list Carter, ahead of all the despots, as the next most dangerous man in the world, because as an ex-President the blatantly, stupid and politically correct are his minions and spread his message.
For Hamas Man of the Year, I nominate Jimmy Carter!
Alberta is like Texas is to US. Very conservative and well-grounded in reason.
Also " ... she's willing to lose all 10 of her sons to terrorism."
(1) where was planned parenthood for this woman (/sarcasm)
(2) 10 offspring = why Europe is at risk
(3) how do you feed 10 offspring in a wrecked economy?
(4) planned parenthood will be glad to see she's willing to lose all her SONS.
The intellectual dishonest is breathtaking. Fatah is a murderous corrupt organization with the same goals as Hamas.
The intellectual dishonesty is breathtaking. Fatah is a murderous corrupt organization with the same goals as Hamas.
(Note: I must point out though that although you properly described the opposition party in lower case with a "d", you misspelled their official designate. It should have read>>>demonRATs (or optionally, demonRATS)
No need to apologize, we all make these little errors. Why not do penance by making a small, additional donation to the FreeRepublic support campaign? It will relieve your soul of the burden of misjudgement you have made. Bless you! TIC of course! :-) + ;-)
*TIC = tongue in cheek
Keep Smilin'
Jimmu Carter is the most infamous lame brain who ever occupied the Oval Office. But in retirement he proves every day that 'stupid is as stupid does' and being lame is a 'good thing.' Tying his tarnished reputation to Pali elections takes the cake in stupid, though.
Guess she likes to screw a lot, to put it bluntly
The Palestinians have chosen a band of savages to lead them. Now they must live with it
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