[Guardian-UK] Barry Rubin - Perhaps it is true that peace can only be made with enemies, but this is only true regarding those who no longer want to be enemies. This does not apply in the case of Hamas. In fact, the stronger Hamas becomes - empowered by well-meaning bystanders - the further away will be any chance for peace. Hamas' main goal is the physical destruction of Israel and its people. Its historic military tactic was the maximum murder of Israeli civilians. That is commonly called genocide. If the goal of Hamas is not a two-state solution but Israel's destruction, the repression of all other Palestinian forces, and the establishment of an Islamist dictatorship, how is any compromise outcome possible? To empower Hamas is to undermine the Palestinian Authority. And to add Hamas to the PA would not make a more moderate Hamas, but a more radical PA. It would, in fact, destroy any possibility for peace whatsoever. Hamas is not going to be changed by any soft-line approach, no matter how much people wish that were the case. The answer is to defeat them by supporting their would-be victims; to show that moderation pays and fanaticism costs dearly.
2009-03-06 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive