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If Hamas' Crimes Are Allowed to Stand Unanswered, They Will Be Repeated

(Fathom-BICOM-UK) Prof. Cary Nelson - Two to three thousand members of highly organized murder squads cross an international border and set about murdering civilians in as gruesome and indiscriminate a manner imaginable. With that barbaric mission completed in a day, some in the international community immediately begin calling for a ceasefire. A ceasefire keeps Hamas in power. Those urging a ceasefire stand behind what appears to be the most basic humanitarian motive: prevent further loss of life. Meanwhile, no reprisals for murdering men, women, and children are to follow. No sanctions. No punishments. No accountability. We are all to accept what happened and move on. Except that if the crimes are allowed to stand unanswered, they will be repeated or horrifically reinvented within a few years at most. If Israel fails to demonstrate that organized, wanton, antisemitic murder sprees will not be tolerated, these new forms of Hamas butchery will become Israel's new normal. The Hamas pogrom presents Israel with what really is this time an existential threat. It has to be treated that way. There will need to be a definitive material difference in the status of Hamas if Israelis are to feel safe again. Deterrence regarding Hamas has lost its credibility. Decades of wishful thinking must come to an end. Hamas is not and never will be a partner for peace. Its charter's call to kill Jews by any means possible has only one meaning: the literal one. The writer is Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
2023-10-26 00:00:00
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