Posted by
Yubaduck on Monday, April 14, 2008 9:25:51 PM
So former President Carter has decided once again in his infinite wisdom that to bring peace to the Middle East, the best plan is to discuss with Hamas what it would take to make them happy, to find out what motivates them, why they do the nasty things they do, and what we must do to talk them out of it. So lets study a little bit about who Hamas is and what they stand for, shall we?
"Hamas grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political organization founded in Egypt with branches throughout the Arab world. Beginning in the late 1960s, Hamas's founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, preached and did charitable work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, both of which were occupied by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1973, Yassin established al-Mujamma' al-Islami (the Islamic Center) to coordinate the Muslim Brotherhood's political activities in Gaza. Yassin founded Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood's local political arm in December 1987, following the eruption of the first intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas published its official charter in 1988."
So from the CFR website, Hamas is "A religious and political organization"...nothing bad so far....Began in the late 60's, an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood...(We'll get to them some other time.) They were formed as a political arm after the first Intifada in 1987. So far, it makes sense for Carter to meet them, they are a politcal movement in exile, and represent the party who controls the majority of seats in the Palestinian Authority.
"Historically, Hamas has sponsored an extensive social service network. More notoriously, the group has also operated a terrorist wing carrying out suicide bombings and attacks using mortars and short-range rockets. The group has launched attacks both in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and inside the pre-1967 boundaries of Israel. In Arabic, the word "hamas" means zeal. But it's also an Arabic acronym for "Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya," or Islamic Resistance Movement."
More from CFR, they have an extensive Social Service network....sounds good since the PA seems rather inept at providing basic services and Israel limits access to the territories. Uh Oh. The group operates a terrorist wing? Well, but they are resisting Israeli Imperialism. They are angry after all because of occupation of the territories, and much like the American Founders, they have "legitimate grievances against oppression". Because they are opposing tyranny, they can be reasoned with. Take away the cause of their anger, and they will cease to be angry. Not so fast, apologists, before we equate them with Patrick Henry, lets read a few of their own words.
Here are a few quotes directly from the Hamas Charter. In order to not cherry pick words out of context, some of these may be rather lengthy.
1)
Article Thirteen of the Hamas Charter:
"Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. Abusing any part of Palestine is abuse directed against part of religion. Nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its religion. Its members have been fed on that. For the sake of hoisting the banner of Allah over their homeland they fight. "Allah will be prominent, but most people do not know."
Now and then the call goes out for the convening of an international conference to look for ways of solving the (Palestinian) question. Some accept, others reject the idea, for this or other reason, with one stipulation or more for consent to convening the conference and participating in it. Knowing the parties constituting the conference, their past and present attitudes towards Moslem problems, the Islamic Resistance Movement does not consider these conferences capable of realising the demands, restoring the rights or doing justice to the oppressed. These conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as arbitraters. When did the infidels do justice to the believers?
"But the Jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou follow their religion; say, The direction of Allah is the true direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or protector against Allah." (The Cow - verse 120).
There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with. As in said in the honourable Hadith:
"The people of Syria are Allah's lash in His land. He wreaks His vengeance through them against whomsoever He wishes among His slaves It is unthinkable that those who are double-faced among them should prosper over the faithful. They will certainly die out of grief and desperation.""
2) Article Fourteen of the Hamas Charter:
"The question of the liberation of Palestine is bound to three circles: the Palestinian circle, the Arab circle and the Islamic circle. Each of these circles has its role in the struggle against Zionism. Each has its duties, and it is a horrible mistake and a sign of deep ignorance to overlook any of these circles. Palestine is an Islamic land which has the first of the two kiblahs (direction to which Moslems turn in praying), the third of the holy (Islamic) sanctuaries, and the point of departure for Mohamed's midnight journey to the seven heavens (i.e. Jerusalem).
"Praise be unto him who transported his servant by night, from the sacred temple of Mecca to the farther temple of Jerusalem, the circuit of which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs; for Allah is he who heareth, and seeth." (The Night-Journey - verse 1).
Since this is the case, liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for very Moslem wherever he may be. On this basis, the problem should be viewed. This should be realised by every Moslem."
3) Opening sentence of article 15 of the Hamas charter:
"The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters."
4) First part of Article Twenty-Two of the Hamas Charter:
"For a long time, the enemies have been planning, skillfully and with precision, for the achievement of what they have attained. They took into consideration the causes affecting the current of events. They strived to amass great and substantive material wealth which they devoted to the realisation of their dream. With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there.
You may speak as much as you want about regional and world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it."
5) Article Twenty-Eight in the Hamas Charter:
"The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from resorting to all methods, using all evil and contemptible ways to achieve its end. It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions. They aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion.
Arab countries surrounding Israel are asked to open their borders before the fighters from among the Arab and Islamic nations so that they could consolidate their efforts with those of their Moslem brethren in Palestine.
As for the other Arab and Islamic countries, they are asked to facilitate the movement of the fighters from and to it, and this is the least thing they could do.
We should not forget to remind every Moslem that when the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that "Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women."
Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. "May the cowards never sleep.""
These last five quotes all come directly from the Hamas Charter, the equivalent of the Declaration of Independence. Yet these do not constitute a view of humanity or a way of governing a people, or even a list of grievances which if addressed, could result in peaceful resolution. They constitute an angry diatribe against a people and by extension, against all non muslims.
The first quote is essentially saying negotiation and discussion are not a valid option. They are saying that there is no compromise, until the people of Israel are gone from the land, until the land is free of their corruption, there can be no peace. So who is President Carter talking to? People who have unequivocally stated that they will not compromise on the end of the Jewish State and the liberation of ALL of Palestine. This is not like talking to the Jordanian Monarch who by his royal nature has authority to change his mind. This is not like talking to an Egyptian Dictator who can change policy on a whim. This is talking to people who have stated repeatedly that their purpose is to end Israel. How do you negotiate with fanaticism?
The second quote is basically saying that a Moslem has no choice but to join the movement. Any whoever does not, whether Palestinian, or not, is betraying the principles of his faith. So until Moslem leaders come forth and say this is a corruption of the Faith, there is no point in talking to this group. They say that war to eradicate Israel is a mandate of their belief. Who are we to question their belief? But then who were we to question the NAZI faith in Aryan power and antisemitism? But since this belief (like Naziism) is incompatible with being a "good neighbor" and "getting along", why should Israel do anything other than destroy it?
The third quote raises the spectre that any land once under Islam must eventually be brought back to the faith. Watch out Europe, that means almost all of Mediterranean Europe is a target, as is Central Asia, India, and Central Africa. All of these were once Moslem lands, were they not? While Hamas currently targets Israel, this is a justification for a much larger eventual Jihad.
The last two quotes deal with the "nature of Jews". These state that Jews control every aspect of the Western World, were responsible for Communism and Capitalism simultaneously, brought about both World Wars as a means to get rich and destroy Islam, and basically are evil incarnate. So once again, how large of a stretch is it to believe that once the Jihad of liberating Palestine is complete, the Jihad of liberating the world of this evil race will follow?
To summarize all of this, we are dealing here with a people who are bitterly angry. Maybe they have reason, maybe not, that is not the point here. They have taken this anger and used it in combination with the angriest elements of their faith to call for holy war and destruction of a nation if not a race of people. They could easily of they choose parlay this call for holy war into a call for larger battles and eventually, a worldwide caliphate. Is this paranoid? Read their own words, in context and tell me I am wrong. And THEY HAVE NOT RENOUNCED THIS VIEW. And our illustrious former President thinks he can bring peace by talking to these people and legitimizing their militant hatred. Negotiate with the Palestinian Authority? Maybe, but I am dubious. Negotiate with a group whose founding charter and pronouncements since founding all call for war and Israels destruction? Why? President Bush and all three Presidential candidates ought to repudiate this move by Carter immediately. If we are fighting terrorists and attempting to build up moderate voices in the region, this is not just unhelpful, it borders on treasonous. Carter has no authority to speak for America, yet this is how he is seen as a former President, and his "mission" emboldens and strengthens the claims of militants that America is weak and that Terrorism is effective diplomacy. President Carter has essentially decided unilaterally to legitimize the claims of Hamas by negotiating with them. All serious presidential contenders must take a stand on this dangerous decision.