IAS, like most other Jewish organisations, has devoted many hours to exposing the anti-Semitic nature of Hamas’ ideology and actions. Even without plugging Hamas into Jonny Geller’s Jew friendly index, it's easy to see why they not good for the Jews.
(Add “Anti-Semitic Potential” (an open and obvious threat to the Jews) + “Impact on the World” (10 years or more) x “The J-Factor” (level of “Jewishness”)= Tzurus (Yiddish word for trouble), and divide by the Mystical Kabalistic number “Seven.” ) |
But we rarely ever consider their impact on the Palestinians.
Last month, a disturbing article by Ivan Booth appeared in the Sunday World newspaper, about the increased discrimination against Palestinian Christians under the Hamas dominated government. The article entitled ‘Christians Pursued’ declares that Christians “living in the very birthplace of Jesus, are suffering the type of religious persecution last seen before Constantine the Great declared Christianity Rome’s official religion.”
Booth described both official policies and Palestinian Authority sanctioned actions carried out against Palestinian Christians that bear a remarkable significance to those carried out against black South Africans under apartheid. These include:
- Not being able to sell land to non-Muslims. Violation of this law is punishable by death. This has prevented the building of a much needed Christian school in the West Bank.
- The arbitrary confiscation of Christian land. A Christian family in South Bethlehem woke up one morning to find that 6 dunams of their land had been fenced off and now belonged to Muslim Palestinians from a nearby village.
- Being coerced into following Islamic laws. Christian women are routinely forced to wear headscarves in public and during the recent fast of Ramadan Christians seen eating or smoking in public were thrown into jail.
- Being the victims of racially inspired violence. 2 Christian sisters were recently shot at point blank range in their Bethlehem home. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility ‘saying they wanted to cleanse the Palestinian house of prostitutes’.
- And like all totalitarian governments worth their salt, public criticism is ruthlessly suppressed. Samir Qumslyeh, an outspoken advocate for Christian Palestinian rights, has had his home fire bombed 3 times.
This type of repression has resulted in a mass exodus of Christians from the region over the last century. Christians made up 26.4% of the population of the Near East in 1914; today they constitute a mere 8%. This is the real ‘creeping genocide’ that Minister Kasrils ignores.
Christians are not the only Palestinians suffering from Hamas’ Islamist tyranny. Last week the Cape Times reported that Hamas militiamen threw grenades at a school in Gaza because they had organised a co-ed sports day. The attack was ordered on the grounds that allowing boys and girls to play sport together ‘taught children immoral values’. 1 person died and 6 others were injured in the attack.
Over 40 internet cafes and video stores in the Palestinian territories have been firebombed over the past few months. Why? ‘The Internet is corrupting young people because it exposes them to Western values and culture and pornographic sites’.
And the list goes on and on. Under Hamas, the Palestinian territories are being transformed into a Taliban style theocracy.
Christian and secular Muslim Palestinians are the conflict's unknown victims. Their dead bodies or grieving families are not splashed on the front pages of our newspapers or used as breaking news on our television screens. The world seems to be only interested in Palestinian suffering when it’s the Jews that can be framed as the aggressors.
That school co-ed event in Gaza was organized by those friendly UN guys- the ones helping to keep Palestinians under a permanent status of refugeedom all the while enduring the often-violent negativity towards their presence in the PA territories.
Posted by: Hard Rain | May 11, 2007 at 18:43
Shimon Peres, the Israeli vice Prime Minister recently announced that Israel is prepared to work alongside the Arab league in securing an Israeli/Arab peace deal.
The details of such a meeting are scheduled to be made public when the Egyptian and Jordanian delegates meet in Israel in several weeks time.
While the issue of Land for Peace is an interesting one, it is an unrealistic one for several reasons. One of the many problems in the Middle-East, for Israel, lies in the extreme volatility of the governments of the day.
While moderate regimes may be ruling Egypt and Jordan today, the same cannot be said of what tomorrow may bring. This point has interesting repercussions.
Firstly, an extremist group that rises to power through popular support will not honour peace deals made with Israel. Indeed many states in the region refuse to recognise the right of Israel to exist.
Can such an entity be considered a partner in peace?
The issue of ceding land for peace, at the risk of fundamentalist regimes taking over, is not one that Israel will consider.
From the other side, the issue of the West Bank and Gaza are of extreme importance. Fatah and Hamas are locked in fierce conflicts in certain parts of Palestinian territory. Each side is jockeying for position in trying to control the fate of Palestine. It is now generally recognised that whoever rules the Palestinians must accept the right of the State of Israel to exist.
Hamas recently ended a truce with Israel, claiming that Israel was procrastinating on movement towards a Palestinian State.
It is this very volatility in the Middle-East that is at the heart of the conflict. There is no question whatsoever that the Palestinian question must be answered. The time for this impasse is over - results are required.
There exists a fundamental right of all nations to self determination and that right applies to Palestinians. However, peace without security is not a peace worth brokering.
In all honesty, Israel is surrounded by hostile nations many of which reject the right of Israel to exist. Several of them actively seek its destruction. Even Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country and friend to Israel is presently undergoing a major move in public sentiment towards Islamic rule. Thus the concept of the secular state is being tested like never before.
Iran is the black cloud on the horizon. This is not only for Israel, but indeed for the rest of the free world. Countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are as vehemently anti-Israel as Iran, only less capable in terms of the destruction they can wreak.
It is against this backdrop that Israel must negotiate. To what end should the lone Jewish state be prepared to compromise in an overwhelmingly hostile environment. When each and every action of Israel is scrutinised by the global press, it is an insuperable task to be praised for anything.
Yet despite these obvious difficulties peace must prevail. It is imperative that a solution is found. The West Bank and Gaza will be the homeland of the Palestinian people and autonomy must somehow be enacted.
Posted by: Brett Chatz | May 12, 2007 at 09:47