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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22782/arab-islamic-peace-ignore-hamas-blame-israel
The Arab-Islamic Formula for "Peace": Ignore Hamas, Blame Israel
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries gathered in Jordan on Aug. 5-6 to issue yet another series of condemnations of Israel. They included the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Reading their statements, one could easily conclude that there is only one party responsible for violence, instability, and suffering in the Middle East: Israel. Hamas? Barely relevant. Palestinian terrorism and incitement against Israel? Not on the agenda. The need to dismantle Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups? Evidently not a priority. What about Iran, the principal sponsor of Islamist terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East? What about Hizbullah and the Houthis in Yemen? This selective outrage is dangerous. By concentrating their attacks on Israel while largely ignoring Iran and Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah, and the Houthis, Arab and Islamic governments are reinforcing the extremists' narrative that Israel, rather than jihadist terrorism and Iranian interference, is the principal source of instability in the Middle East. Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan are members of Trump's Gaza Board of Peace. If they want to play a constructive role, they should start by telling Hamas publicly: "The game is over. Hand over your weapons, dismantle your military and security apparatuses, and relinquish control of Gaza." Instead, their statements send Hamas exactly the opposite message: that Israel, and not the terrorist group that initiated the Oct. 7 war, remains the principal culprit. Arab and Islamic governments also repeated their support for the establishment of an "independent, sovereign Palestinian state" and described a "two-state solution" as the only path toward peace. Do the Arabs and Muslims - or the Europeans - really believe that creating a Palestinian state would automatically produce peace? Who would prevent Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from taking over such a state? Who would prevent Iran or Turkey from supplying Palestinian proxies with weapons, money and training? Peace will not come from ignoring Hamas, demonizing Israel and Jews, or repeating slogans about a "two-state solution" as though Oct. 7 had never happened. It will come only when the international community - including Arab and Islamic countries - makes it clear that armed jihadist organizations cannot be allowed to control Palestinian territory, possess private armies, or determine the future of Israelis and Palestinians through terrorism.