By Shoshana Bryen
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Post editorialized that in response to the Hamas-Fatah “reconciliation,” the Obama administration “will need a new strategy. Its first priority should be to prevent a renewal of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed after two years of relative calm. That will mean insisting that West Bank Palestinian security forces continue to work with Israelis to stop terrorist attacks; pressing Egypt and the new Palestinian government to require a cease-fire from Hamas; and urging Mr. Netanyahu to refrain from provocative Israeli actions.”
“Horse hockey” would be the polite term for the idea that the joining of an avowed Islamist terrorist force with a weak, semi-reconstructed secular terrorist force will produce a moderate, forward-looking Palestinian entity prepared to accept the legitimacy of Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East behind “secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” (UN Security Council Resolution 242)
We politely suggest that the first priority for The Post editors be to read The Post news section in which Hamas leader and Gaza dictator Khaled Meshal bluntly stated the Hamas position:
Meshal said the Palestinians were “ready to give an additional chance” to peace efforts…Hamas was prepared to work with Fatah to guide both Palestinian diplomacy and “resistance in all its forms.” He added that Hamas shared the goal of establishing “a Palestinian state, independent and completely sovereign, on the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with its capital, Jerusalem, without a single settler, without conceding a single inch and without conceding the right of return” of Palestinian refugees to their former homes in Israel.
“Resistance” means terrorism. “Completely sovereign” means without limits on a future army or future alliances. “With its capital, Jerusalem, without a single settler” means Jerusalem (among other places) without Jews. “Without conceding a single inch” means Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean – anyone who says Hamas or Fatah agree that the “1967 borders” (which are the 1949 Armistice Lines) define the sovereign State of Israel or the sovereign State of Palestine (one on either side), is politely requested to find those words.
The Post wants the Obama administration to “insist” that “West Bank security forces continue to work with Israelis to stop terrorist attacks.” Define “terrorist.” U.S.-armed and trained Palestinian forces have worked with the IDF to stop Hamas from undermining Fatah on the West Bank. That’s it. Under the “reconciliation” agreement, The Post news story announces, “the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority will continue to handle security in the West Bank and Hamas will do the same in the Gaza Strip. The two sides are to form a joint security committee that will oversee current operations and chart future steps. ‘There will be only one gun for one authority,’ Abbas said.”
Will that “joint security committee” talk about “future steps” for the American-trained forces and their American-provided weapons? Will Fatah use its American army to kill its brothers in Hamas? If it does, it isn’t reconciliation. If it doesn’t, Hamas will certainly take over the West Bank as it did Gaza.
And The Post wants Egypt to press Hamas to have a cease-fire with Israel. Egypt is in the process of “reevaluating” its own peace with Israel and upgrading its relations with Hamas. The Egyptian force that is required by its signature on an agreement with the United States and Israel to maintain the international embargo of Hamas along the southern end of Gaza is in the process of dismantling its border crossings and preparing to open the border to permit Hamas to import whatever it wishes, including arms.
The Post wants the Obama administration to urge the Netanyahu government “to refrain from provocative actions.” We politely suggest that The Post consider the Hamas provocations which most recently include striking a school bus with an anti-tank missile and killing a 16-year-old boy, aiming rockets and mortars at towns in southern Israel, and trying to smuggle in Chinese missiles and British radars among other weapons. Then The Post should consider the provocations from Fatah – incitement to violence against Jews[1]; killing Jews who tried to pray at a venerated shrine in the West Bank; naming youth activities and venues for the killers of Jews; and refusing to acknowledge any Jewish tie to the land or the city of Jerusalem that was last sovereign under Jews.
The Post should find itself grateful that the Israeli response to deliberate Palestinian provocations that have led to Israeli civilian deaths has been muted and responsible.
As we approach Israel’s 63rd birthday, we find ourselves sorry yet again that after 63 years, the Palestinian people remain mired under leaders who are preoccupied with the death and destruction of the Jewish people rather than committed to political, social and economic progress for themselves.
[1] Palestinian Authority TV is now available in Gaza and Hamas TV is now available in the West Bank – that means the Hamas TV bunny who told children that Jews burn Palestinian children in ovens is now available to wider audiences. So is the Hamas television personality who told Palestinian children that the IDF killed Mickey Mouse.