Once again and as usual, we Arabs, at least some of us, are in a big mess. The Islamist extremist Hamas group which came to power through democracy in 2006, hijacked Gaza, established its rocket factories in residential areas, in bunkers under mosques, schools, and hospitals. For the past three years Hamas jihadists and their affiliates have launched their Kassam rockets at residential areas in Israel. Also during the cease fire brokered by Egypt in 2008, Hamas never stopped launching its rockets. On top of all that, Hamas, like the PLO before the Oslo accords, rejects the existence of Israel, a UN member state. Its ultimate aim is “liberating” all of Palestine and wiping out Israel from the world map.
Hamas “struggle” is backed by Islamists across the globe, Arab state-controlled media, and by one-eyed Western anti-war campaigners. Even Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the UN condemned the Israeli military operations as “disproportionate”.
All these bodies have voraciously consumed the Hamas propaganda and allege that the Israeli blockade has caused abject misery in Gaza, people there are starving. Some compare Gaza to a huge prison, to a “concentration camp”. But who is to blame for all this calamity?
Israeli politicians have repeatedly stated that once Hamas stops launching its missiles, the blockade would be lifted. The Israeli cabinet even approved of aid convoys into Gaza despite Hamas rockets. Yet, the Hamas leadership has ignored this attitude and carried on launching its rocket on Israeli residential areas.
We Arabs are very good at twisting facts and exaggerating when it suits us. Mustafa Barghouthi, A Fatah activist, told CNN (28.12.2008) “It was Israel which broke the cease fire with Hamas.” Buthaina Sha’ban, a Syrian cabinet Minister, calls in the London-based Saudi daily Al Shraq Al Awsat (29.12.2008) the Israeli attack on Hamas “the most atrocious Holocaust in the history of mankind.”
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According to a clandestine survey by Bielefeld University conducted in Syria and Egypt (2006), over 60% of the population in these countries want peace with Israel. They are “sick and tired” as many put it, of the belligerent discourse of the Islamists and propaganda of their governments’ media. But of course they dare not say that openly.
Khaled, who does not want his last name to be named, told me, “Our leaders and their affiliates suffer from some kind of personality disorder. They keep us busy with Israel to distract from their failure to establish democracy and remove poverty. They also support radical organizations like Hamas and Hizballah as tools to keep that distraction alive.”
Fatima said, “Israel left south Lebanon and Gaza. Yet, for Hizballah and Hamas this is not enough. What do these people want? They are making the life of their people and ours miserable. We feel hijacked by these murderers. We want peace.”
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http://www.amislam.com/gaza.htm