Unfortunately, the failure to understand what Hamas is has led many people to support it as an Islamic organization that embraces monotheism and a “national (Palestinian) liberation movement” – with disastrous consequences. It claims to be both but is neither.
The problem is that although Islam claims to have a moral code with values and ethics, it does not apply to non-Muslims (“infidels”). This became apparent on October 7. That’s why Muslims ignore and deny the massacre and support Hamas’s attack in the name of Islam. Infidels don’t matter and can be killed with impunity. Support for such savagery, moreover, is taught in mosques and Islamic schools and institutions around the world. Islamic leaders declare, “Death to Israel; Death to America.”
Is that consistent with Islamic claims to be monotheistic and connected to the tradition of Abraham?
Is that what Muslims believe that Allah/God wants?
Hamas and other terrorist organizations proclaim “Free Palestine” as code words for destroying Israel and committing genocide. To gain legitimacy and acceptance, they present themselves as representatives of Islam. For this reason, the majority of Islamic authorities, Muslims, and numerous non-Muslims support Hamas.
But Hamas is an Islamic totalitarian organization that opposes any form of individuality, creativity, or human rights. Life has no meaning outside of its rules. Although it uses Islamic religious terms, such as Jihad, to justify its atrocities, it is contrary to any genuine religious belief.
Iran, Turkey, Qatar, and other nations sponsor Hamas, which also receives support from UNRWA, other UN agencies, Arab and Muslim groups, and anti-Israel NGOs like Human Rights Watch.
The UNRWA connection is the key to understanding how and why Hamas became so powerful and influential. UNRWA controls and dominates the lives of Arab Palestinians who live in 19 officially recognized “refugee camps” (in fact, neighborhoods within cities) in the “West Bank” (Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem) and eight in the Gaza Strip. It supplies residents with food and medical services and operates schools. Nearly all its employees are locals – that is, Arab Palestinians – and most are affiliated with Hamas.
UNRWA also serves millions of Arabs who live in 40 “refugee camps” (in fact, towns and villages) in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Although considered a humanitarian organization, UNRWA’s purpose is to create a perpetual Arab-Palestinian refugee population, to promote the “Nakba” (catastrophe) – the failure of Arab armies to destroy Israel in the 1948-49 war – and to sustain the hope that they will succeed in the future. UNRWA indoctrinates everyone under its auspices with this lesson, instilling hatred towards Jews and Israel, along with support for Hamas.
BUT HAMAS’S rise to power could not have happened without the support of Israel, the US, the EU, and the international community. Israel believed that empowering the PLO/Palestinian Authority and Hamas was a way to avoid being accused of “occupation” and “denying Palestinians the right to self-determination.” But it didn’t work. It was a step into an abyss.
The Oslo Accords rekindled hopes for peace, but terrorism continued. Despite getting more concessions from Israel, Yasser Arafat launched the Second Intifada, which revealed his agenda. The Second Intifada was traumatic for Israeli society; thousands of Israelis were murdered and wounded in waves of terrorist attacks. Although Israel responded militarily, it also continued to support the PLO/PA and maintained its policy of withdrawal – “land for peace.”
During the 2005 “Disengagement,” Israel expelled Jews from the Gaza Strip, ultimately providing Hamas with the opportunity to control the Gaza enclave. When Hamas ousted the PLO from Gaza in 2007, Israel saw this as a way of promoting a rival to the PLO, promoting the Gaza Strip as a local Singapore – a center for trade and commerce, peace, and prosperity – and implementing a form of the “two-state solution,” which was the basis of the Oslo Accords.
Instead, Hamas was building tunnels with Egyptian and Qatari support. Where were Israel’s security agencies? Why did the Israeli government and the international community ignore this obvious threat? Why did they ignore what Hezbollah was doing? Why did they support – and continue to support – the establishment of a Palestinian state?
Promoting a Palestinian state was always US policy
Promoting an independent, sovereign Palestinian state has been the policy of all US administrations, the State Department, and the international community, and it is the policy of the Biden administration. Who would run that state, however, is unclear. President Biden and State Department officials have stated that Israel cannot defeat Hamas or the PLO and, therefore, must accept such a state, even though it poses an existential threat to Israel. This policy, however, ignores the reason why the Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. They and their supporters insist that “Palestine must be free” (of Jews) “from the river to the sea,” meaning Israel’s destruction.
These policies have created an impossible situation for Israel: it cannot agree to empower terrorist entities, and it does not want to fight with the Biden administration. Israel needs America’s support but is unwilling to risk its security. It is simply not a realistic option to surrender to Hamas or allow it to survive and become part of a future Palestinian entity. As long as Hamas remains intact in any form, it poses a threat to Israel and the world. Gazans, especially those who support Hamas, can rebuild their lives elsewhere. Terrorism in the name of religion must be eradicated, not tolerated or appeased.
That’s what the failure to understand Hamas and what the war in Gaza are all about.
The author is a PhD historian and journalist in Israel.
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