The world will never grant statehood to a people whose leaders are bereft of any semblance of statecraft.The Hamas leader interviewed by the Times expresses opinions that are so completely out of touch with reality that it should be an embarrassment for any ordinary Palestinian person.
Transcript: Interview With Khaled Meshal of Hamas
The only good news is that Hamas says they have decided to stop firing rockets at Israel.
All the rest is bad news - as for instance this refusal to disavow the Hamas charter which calls for the destruction of Israel - a beautiful, modern, progressive democracy that has celebrated its 61st anniversary as a state.
Hamas invokes logic as a premise while it denies the basic facts of Israel's existence:
...it's not logical for the international community to get stuck on sentences written 20 years ago. It's not logical for the international community to judge Hamas based on these sentences and stay silent when Israel destroys and kills our people.There is not the slightest indication that Hamas will ever renounce its world-denying worldview. And thus there is not the slightest chance that there will ever be a Palestinian state.
You are correct on all points.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Tzvee,
ReplyDeleteI have three points I would like to bring to your attention, and I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to adress them:
1) Israel is not a beautiful, progressive democratic state, it is a democratic state that has denied the Palestinian right to statehood, and enjoyed a sordid history of systematic violations of human rights, without parallel in the modern world.
2) Meshaal is simply asking that Israel adhere to International law in adopting the UN resolutions demanding that Israel withdraw to its '67 borders.
3) He is proposing a long-term ceasefire
And so Mr. Tzvee, where in all this do you see a man with "no semblance of statecraft?" surely not the very individual who is seeking a peaceful resolution to a conflict that has raged on mercilessly claiming the lives of so many innocents, and what of the "embarrassment for any ordinary Palestinian," surely not the individual who is crying out for Israel to simply do what countless other countries have been urging Israel to do for several decades? (adopting the UN resolutions)
Your argument regarding Hamas as an illogical and violent party is based solely on several offending articles in its charter. While the articles in question are no doubt problematic for any long-term peace, I believe that 1)they are more so symbolic than anything else, and
2)that the true political bearing of Hamas (or any party for that matter) to rest on the rhetoric of its leader, and you have here the undisputed leader of Hamas clearly and eloquently stating his desire (and his organisation as a whole) to enter into a long-term ceasefire.
Mr. Mazin,
ReplyDeleteIsrael has a wonderful history. It has brought such great beauty, progress and value to the world that for you to say it is "sordid" is a denial of reality.
If the charter articles are just symbolic, then you should agree they must be removed.
Just look at reality. Meshal has to hide - fearful for his life - because the entire world has decided that he is not a statesman, but a terrorist.
Stop making war. Start building a state. Perhaps if your people would do that - then in another 61 years - you might convince the world that you can be trusted to govern your own state. Right now, nobody honestly believes that can happen.