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Latest Hamas Terror Attack Part of a Broader Picture

(Rubin Report) Barry Rubin - The latest attack by Hamas, killing four Israelis, was a signal, timed for the restart of direct negotiations, that Hamas will subvert by terror any progress toward Israel-Palestinian peace. The attack signals to the Palestinian public that "resistance" is an alternative accorded much more honor and respectability. It is Hamas' counter-campaign to show that violence is preferable. And why not? Murdering Israelis is right in the dominant Palestinian political culture, is made to seem heroic, and doesn't carry heavy penalties either for the groups doing it or individual terrorists carrying it out. This attack also reminds Israel that the PA is unable to stop terrorism. Thus, the creation of a Palestinian state at this time and in these circumstances would not necessarily be a solution ending the conflict, but merely a new stage of cross-border attacks, official anti-Israel incitement, and growing power for Hamas and its radical allies within the Fatah group that rules the West Bank. Moreover, nowadays such acts of terrorism don't generate real international support for Israel but often suggestions that it should make more concessions faster in order to "end" the violence. Indeed, the New York Times' opening paragraph on the attack actually succeeded in blaming Israel as the culprit after four of its own innocent civilians are murdered: "The killing of four Israeli settlers...underscored the disruptive role that the issue of Jewish settlements could play in the already fragile negotiations." Not the disruptive role of Palestinian terrorism but of Jewish settlements! The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal.
2010-09-03 08:52:07
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