|
Sharon's Legacy and Hamas
by Henry Kissinger
 The emergence of Hamas as the dominant faction in Palestine should not be treated as a radical new departure. Hamas represents the mind-set that prevented the full recognition of Israel's legitimacy by the PLO for all these decades; kept Arafat from accepting partition of Palestine at Camp David in 2000; produced two intifadas and consistently supported terrorism, on occasion explicitly, always tacitly. (International Herald Tribune)
Improve the Image
by Aluf Benn
Force is a necessary condition for the state's
existence, but it is not a sufficient condition on its own. The time
has come to change priorities, and to give some importance to Israel
being just. That doesn't mean getting up and running out of all the
territories. Even after such a withdrawal, there will be things that
Israel will be blamed for and accused of. But the next government must
place the problem of Israel's legitimacy in the forefront and invest
every possible effort to improve Israel's image in the world. (Ha'aretz)
The EU Must Not Fund Terrorism
by Charles Tannock
The EU sees the election of Hamas as a dilemma. I don't consider it a dilemma, whether or not to negotiate with and fund a terrorist group committed to Israel's annihilation. We in the EU need to have faith in our core values. Hamas is committed to a global jihad through violence comparable to the suicide bombings that killed 52 people in July last year in London, the city I represent. Hamas may have won power democratically, but it seeks the creation of a global Islamic theocracy under Shari'a law. The writer is a member of the European Parliament from the UK. (Jerusalem Post)
|
Has Unilateralism Run Its Course?
by Rafael D. Frankel
 "The rise of Hamas has made [further] unilateral withdrawal even more complicated," said Yossi Klein Halevy (pictured), a senior fellow at the Shalem Center. "On the one hand, the logic of unilateralism, that there is no partner for peace, has been confirmed, but so have the security warnings of the opponents of unilateralism. We're not going to be withdrawing from the West Bank and leaving a void behind. We're going to be withdrawing and bringing Iran up to our borders." The prospect of an Iranian-allied Hamas army sitting within Katyusha range of all the major Israeli population centers, and shoulder rocket firing range of airplanes landing at Ben-Gurion Airport, is a major reason for the precipitous fall in support for unilateral disengagements. (Jerusalem Post)
A Disturbing Invitation
by Richard Cohen
 Hamas is no mere anti-Israel or anti-Zionist organization. It is also deeply, indelibly, and quite openly anti-Semitic. Its covenant, adopted Aug. 18, 1988, does not limit itself to the goal of annihilating Israel, but throws in "killing the Jews" for good measure. It mentions Jews over and over again and even cites that notorious anti-Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as proof of what the vile Hebrews are up to. This is 100%, non-alloyed, near-perfect, and totally bananas anti-Semitism - not the work of rational minds. (Washington Post)
War Is Not Natural
by Dalai Lama
 The holy region in which you - Israelis and Palestinians - live suffers from a decades-long conflict, a struggle so bitter that even I heard about it, as small child in far-away Tibet. When I first visited the region I had the chance to visit Israeli friends and Palestinian friends, and to familiarize myself with the tough reality you all face. (Ynet News)
|