[Baltimore Jewish Times] Robert O. Freedman - It is argued that it is necessary to talk to a terrorist organization in order to get it to change its policy, just as Britain did with the Irish Republican Army. But the example of the IRA is misleading. The IRA never had as one of its goals the destruction of Great Britain. For Israel, the U.S. and/or the EU to begin talks with Hamas before it changed its policy would give diplomatic legitimacy to its call to destroy Israel, and reward its terrorist actions, something that would only encourage more terrorism in the future. The writer is professor of political science at Baltimore Hebrew University and visiting professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University.
2008-04-07 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive