Hamas – They’re not bad, they’re just drawn that way
By Mary Rizzo • Oct 19th, 2009 at 16:24 • Category: Counter-terrorism, No thanks!, Culture and Heritage, Hasbara Deconstruction Site, Israel, Newswire, Palestine, Religion, Resistance, War, Zionism
WRITTEN BY MARY RIZZO
In many parts of the West, certain political parties or movements are treated as if they come from the Moon or are alien to any body politic. Their existence among the people is always scrutinised as negative, transitory and something created in a boardroom or a backroom, imposed upon an unsophisticated public that is unable to differentiate a true political programme from empty and simplistic rhetoric. These parties or movements are depicted as if they only address the margins of society who are disenfranchised from any “normal” democratic bodies, and thus, are ramshackle bands that represent a minority constituency. Given their oppositional nature to pre-existing parties, they are outfitted with the label that will serve to keep them isolated from the structures that are already in operation. All of this is to destroy the party or movement by propaganda work rather than analysis of reality.
An entire mythology has been built around the Palestinian resistance movement (which morphed into a party) Hamas. This construct has actually taken on more legitimacy as a factual interpretation of Hamas than the facts themselves. In most of the Western media, no matter if it is on the right or the left, and in some of the “moderate” media in Arab countries, the very name of the party is coupled with terms such as “fundamentalist”, “radical” or “terrorist”. Clearly, this serves to create a fear trigger that will remove the word from being critically and honestly evaluated. The listener will immediately identify Hamas with a negative connotation and is removed from responsibility for understanding that this is a manipulation of reality. The listener is expected to accept the claims that Hamas is “anti-democratic” and “fanatical”. It is child’s play to then convince the listener that Hamas is Bad, that it is the Enemy of all We represent (in our own eyes, tolerance, democracy, Goodness itself). It is possible to then extend that reading to the belief that action must be taken against them, that they are a “cancer that must be gotten rid of”, as quoted by the institutional peacenik, Noa. How does one eradicate a cancer, once it has been diagnosed? By extirpation or bombardment. With cancer treatment, one “bombards” even the healthy parts of the body with toxic agents, waiting to see if after the battle there were enough healthy parts remaining to allow the organism to continue to exist. Once you have set into the minds of millions of people the idea that destruction is good, because the enemy is just so damaging and evil if allowed to exist, the risk of bringing the entire organism to its grave by weakening it dramatically is taken as a viable risk to run. This is a way to make them justify actions that their own eyes don’t see as therapeutic, but are pure horror and evil.
How did it work that the world was so fooled and allowed Israel to destroy Gaza to “get rid of Hamas”? It was quite simple, and it’s always the same answer: Israel and its allies keep people disinformed. Those who actually will go slightly below the screaming headlines of the newspapers might find out a few facts buried that that will contradict the spin, but not that many people will go that far, given that they are exposed to something with an element of truth buried deep within. If that were not problematic enough, even the “progressives” have done meritorious services to rendering Hamas untouchable. They might accept them as a “resistance movement” but they won’t allow their personal ideological bias to see Hamas as a progressive force for their own people’s advancement. This may be out of conviction, convenience or even lack of research or a blindspot that does not allow variations on the theme of the class struggle, where everything is “international” and the same type of rules and ideals should be considered applicable and necessary for all, going so far in some cases to “import democracy” under various more or less aggressive forms.
These people, many of whom are armed with good intentions, have chewed, swallowed, and are spitting back quite a few of the outright lies and distortions that are part of the mythology created by opponents of Hamas, created in Israel and the West, primarily.
What are the components of that mythology?
1) Hamas was created by the Israeli Mossad.
2) Hamas represents a marginal portion of the Palestinians.
3) Hamas turned democratic enough just to be able to obtain some legitimacy to later take over and turn the Palestinian Territories into an Islamic State.
4) Their victory in the polls was nothing more than a protest vote against the corruption of Fatah.
5) Hamas is comprised of a bunch of illiterates and their electors are sucked in by their own ignorance.
6) Hamas is a fundamentalist group and therefore inflexible and incapable of any modification or evolution. The oft cited Charter is used against them to stress that they are simply a radical, destructive group poised for Holy War.
7) Hamas does not seek any kind of compromise with other Palestinian political parties or factions, and are therefore the divisionary element that prohibits of the unity of the people.
8 ) Hamas operates to indoctrinate their people with hate propaganda in order to utilise them as cannon fodder.
9) Hamas is a terrorist group that exists only thanks to financing by “fundamentalist regimes”.
That Hamas is merely a resistance movement has been thoroughly disproved by the elections, but this seems to be the safe place that activists can cluster in order to allow themselves to be able to tolerate Hamas, while wishing for their quick demise. They are not viewed then as having a true heritage as a political party that can be compared to those of “democratic nations” of the “international community”, and thus, analysis of them can remain at an elementary level, lending itself to hasty generalisations.
I ask my readers to kindly forgive all the inverted quotation marks, but these words do become ironic and empty of true meaning when they are applied to the objects indicated by the spin doctors, whose task it is to do the bidding of the hegemonic powers. How can a minority of a handful of nations that always pits itself against the will of the remainder of the world community in the UN be considered as the “international community”? It’s a boy’s club that excludes practically everyone. How can a country that puts in office the candidate who obtains the lesser amount of votes be called a “democracy”? It is when we start to question our own foundations that we can detect that there is a lot of convenience in presenting any opposition as being an enemy and outside of paradigms that we consider to be core to our expectations of how to establish a just and equitable world.
It’s time to debunk a few of these myths with facts.
1) Hamas was not created by Mossad. Although Israel does like to claim credit for many things, this one is not their doing. Political Islam in Palestine has had a presence since the early 40s in Mandate Palestine, and Hamas was born as part of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan), with many of its early leaders formally affiliated. It was the experience of refugeehood that turned Hamas into a more autonomous element with a particular nationalist basis to it, a natural result of the urgent and real human situation of displacement and loss of their cultural and national identity.
There were close relations of this group with the Egyptian base, and the first offices of the Ikhwan in Palestine were created in Gaza in 1945, led by a member of one of the most important families of the zone, Sheykh Zafer al Shawwa. During the first Arab-Israeli war, Islamist volunteers reinforced the ranks, coming primarily from Jordan and Syria, and this support showed the refugees that the Ikhwan had the courage to defend itself, even during the “Israeli War of Independence”. The growing number of refugees gave a stronger identity and sense of purpose to the Islamist movement in Palestine. Therefore, in the civil society and in the population in general, a motivation from any other source was not required to be able to pledge: “I promise to be a good Muslim in defending Islam and the lost land of Palestine. I promise to be a good example for the community and for others.” These were the words spoken by those who swore their loyalty to the Ikhwan in Palestine (source: Beverly Milton Edwards, “Islamic Politics in Palestine”, p. 43). The local Ikhwan had its own agenda, defending its lost land. It didn’t require fanaticism, outside influence or even propaganda. The refugees themselves were living proof of the horrors of deportation and suffering. The identification as part of an international movement was concomitant with the recognition of the particularity of the Palestinian experience. The official foundation, dating 9 December 1987, was only the culmination of an organisation in the works for decades. Organised Islamic resistance was further utilised when the situation precipitated dramatically in 1967 and a new generation was born as refugees. For this generation, a return to Islam was considered as a necessity for the moral and political future of a people that was being literally destroyed. The cause of the Nakba was seen by many as the result of the distancing from a normal society, the Palestinian one, in which the ethical, religious, cultural and traditional values had been devastated by the occupation, and the descent into further degradation, poverty, disenfranchisement and social instability was seen not only as the result of the occupation, but part of its cause.
The “international community” would not come to the rescue of these people, the rest of the Ummah was not caught up in their national struggle, largely because they were not directly involved or were even prohibited from involvement. The extreme pain and disgrace of losing one’s land at that time was a new element to the area, where previous colonisation avoided expelling the indigenous inhabitants, and throwing off the usurpers was not complicated with the total loss of roots and a base. The basis for the formal dimension of Hamas was thus present for decades prior to its official birth. In order to operate, being under the thumb of the occupation, these organised groups that existed had established charities and benefit organisations for their people. These institutions were tolerated by Israel in the Occupied Territories. Israel conceded some operating space through granting of licenses. As General Yitzhak Sager said in an interview to the International Herald Tribune in 1981, the Israeli government “…gave money that the military governor allocated to the mosques […] the sums were used both by the mosques and the religious schools, with the purpose of reinforcing a subject that would contrast that of the Left that was in favour of the PLO.” If there was some motivation for Israel to be involved, it was really as an act of ‘divide and rule’, a bit of tolerance, a bit of economic support to the various religious associations in order to see if an opposition to the nationalists of the PLO could develop. They really were only looking for a way to see the weakening of the PLO, which was gaining some support in the West, and they did not found, provide major financing or in any way influence a movement that they would in some way infiltrate or control. That is pure mythology. Why give Israel credit where none is due?
2) That Hamas represents only a marginal portion of Palestinians is another myth to debunk. It is indeed true that all Palestinians are not refugees, and it is also true that virtually all of the leaders of Hamas were born in exile or at some point were subjected to the experience of expulsion and loss of their homes and possessions. This is a core Palestinian experience, and it is true that even those (few) Palestinians who were not uprooted can identify with the loss of their cultural and national identity, and all of them know that their national aspirations and cohesion as a group have been destroyed by Israel. Thus, even a movement or party that has its own identity in the refugee camps and in exile or in religious roots, is recognised as an intrinsic, legitimate and natural representative of Palestinians as a whole. They even obtained the majority vote in areas of the West Bank that were not considered as Hamas strongholds, as well as obtaining votes from many Christian areas.
3) The myth that Hamas turned “democratic enough” just to get its foot in the door as the first step of forcing an Islamic State upon the entirety of Palestine is a very widespread one, especially in the progressive circles that do not recognise the popularity of the movement or who have an ideological prejudice against any religious movement. There is much to be said in favour of separation of church and state, but this of course is something that cannot be imposed from afar, and furthermore, there are many levels of separation to take into consideration. Those who subscribe to this position of “Hamas buying time before introducing the Sharia” tend to deny that a democracy has certain characteristics, and it is not necessarily a synonym of “secularism”. When the word “democracy” is applied correctly, it has certain characteristics, and Hamas meets these. Hamas has popular consensus. It has an internal structure that is autonomous and recognised as legitimate by its constituency. It follows the rules of elections, meeting the requirements for participation. Once elected, it assumes its role within the existing system, not having overthrown or staged coups against established structures. It is a political movement with several factions (some of them armed, as is true of many parties in areas under occupation, Fatah included) with a history and an organisation. There is widespread discussion among its constituencies, including those who are political prisoners, prior to making decisions, and the majority decides the actions to be undertaken. If one thing must be said about it to set it apart from parties that Westerners are familiar with, highest level leaders generally do not assume the governing roles. This is understandable in a party where a great quantity of the leaders are routinely assassinated by Israel. That the current political director, Khaled Meshaal, must live in exile after having once been victim of an attempted assassination says more about this anomalous situation than a thousand words can.
4) That Hamas’s victory in the Legislative Council election was nothing more than a protest vote (another pet theory of the left) was brilliantly illustrated as false by Paola Caridi in her very good book (despite the sensationalist subtitle) “Hamas, What it is and what the Radical Palestinian Movement Wants”, published by Feltrinelli and only available in Italian at this time. I am translating a few paragraphs that deal with this question.
“There is a precise political reason for which the majority of Palestinians voted for Hamas. It is a reason that concerns the decision made by the Islamist movement formally on 23 January 2005. (translator’s note, a year prior to the Legislative elections): a unilateral truce, reached together with the Islamic Jihad (that had instead broken it on several occasions), which had turned words into facts: that there would be the end of the season of terrorist attacks made by Hamas inside Israel as indicated within the confines of the 1949 armistice, the Israel within the Green Line, in other words. The ending of suicide attacks in Israeli cities, substantially bringing an end to the Intifada as well as (Hamas’s) participative choice is interpreted by the Palestinian population as a precise political proposal: an alternative to those who had governed and controlled them, holding the hegemony up to that moment. A proposal that poses at the same time new de facto limits to Hamas’s resistance strategy. The Islamist movement has not been, therefore, chosen only as a protest against the corruption, patronage and inefficiency of Fatah, which as a party is often confused with the PA. Corruption, patronage and inefficiency that are related, at least from a temporal point of view, with the failure of the Oslo Accords and the “facts on the ground” realised by the Israelis.
“The people of Hamas were considered people who are serious, who did not enrich themselves at the expense of the population, in fact, they continued to live in normal neighbourhoods and in the refugee camps.” (Caridi, p. 171).
5) An extremely offensive smear, oft repeated, is that Hamas’s followers and its leaders are a “bunch of illiterates” or “religious fanatics”. Almost all the leaders are (or were, given the number of assassinations within their ranks, the past tense is de rigueur) university graduates in fields ranging from medicine and physics to jurisprudence, economics and theology, is testament itself that this smear is merely to throw dirt on them and paint them as having read only religious texts and therefore “under-developed” when compared to other movements. Education has always been one of the pillars of Hamas and its charity work. The people of Palestine don’t need to be told this, it is a reality for them, where in many cases without this foundation, Palestinians would be left wanting in this area.
6) The inflexibility of Hamas is another myth, especially yanked out when speaking of the 1988 Charter (Mithaq). Shiekh Hamed Bitauri, “religious authority of Nablus, president of the Union of the Palestinian Ulemas, known for his radical positions had no problem confirming that ‘the Charter is not the Qu’ran. We can change it. It is only the synthesis of the positions of the Islamist movement in its relations with the other factions, and its politics.’ Aziz Dweik, founder of the Department of Geography of the University of Nablus, later to become the spokesman of the Palestinian Parliament after the 2006 elections, and imprisoned in Israeli jails since the summer of that year, went even further, declaring the political and pragmatic necessity of distancing from the Mithaq of 1988 to Khalid Amayreh, Palestinian journalist that is sensitive to Islamist positions, he said that ‘Hamas would not remain as a hostage to rhetorical slogans of the past like those of the ‘destruction of Israel’.” (Khalid Amayreh, Hamas Debates the Future: Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement Attempts to Reconcile Ideological Purity and Political Realism, in “Conflicts Forum”, Nov. 2007, p.4) (Caridi p. 90).
Haniyeh has mentioned on many occasions that the Charter has been surpassed in its substance by the other official documents, the most important of which, the Electoral Programme of the Reform and Change List (the list in which Hamas ran for office). This programme is structured like a document that goes far beyond the needs of a political campaign, according to the leader of Hamas, and it indicates the policy of the movement. It was not written in the heat of the revolution of the Intifada, and reflects the evolution of the party. The changes present are not ideological so much as ones of a strategic and political nature. The positions have been reiterated so many times in interviews and public interventions, it seems incredible that the complexity and maturity of Hamas should by now not be apparent to everyone. It is clear that they are still dedicated to the liberation of Palestine, but they are attempting to achieve it through reaffirmation of the rights of the people, knowing full well that as a party, Hamas is not equipped to overthrow the occupation in any practical way or to destroy what they recognise as a reality.
Many of us who follow events in the Middle East hope that they do not surrender to pragmatism so far as to recognise Israel not only as a reality, but as a “Jewish State”, however, we must watch from the sidelines and evaluate facts. The people of Palestine will be vigil about what rights are being surrendered, if any, and many of us believe that backs to the wall, they will not capitulate and lose what they know is theirs for reasons of political expediency. Hamas too is aware of this fact.
7) Hamas has been far less divisionary than its principle counterpart, Fatah. The Gaza “coup” that shocked and saddened the world was actually a preventive measure to the thwart the planned takeover by the Fatah forces faithful to Dahlan (in collaboration with Israel). That Hamas was the party that was awarded victory by its own people has never been recognised by the “international community” that nevertheless pushed for elections and insisted that this was the necessity for Palestinians, because this would mean that the resistance had been granted legitimacy and would become policy within the governing body, the rejection of negotiations as sub-alternates with Israel, which was Fatah policy, had been officially sanctioned by the populace and it would only be a matter of time before the programme would become policy. So, any steps by the Fatah “Security Forces” to overtake Gaza would actually have been the coup. But in the backwards way of viewing events, fuelled by disinformation, the tragic bloodbath between Palestinians prevented the real overthrow of democracy that would have taken place had Dahlan had the chance. Again and again, Hamas has sought to work together with the opposition party, and this is something they would not tolerate in the vain hope that their economic advantage and political nulla osta from the boy’s club would allow them to command even in absence of the popular mandate to do so.
8 ) It’s not necessary to use propaganda to show to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in exile, and even to many within Israel, the ongoing destruction of the Palestinian civilisation and people. Blockades, bombardments, assassinations, war, checkpoint humiliations, restrictions, separation of families, imprisonment and further abuses are not isolated incidents, but they are the daily bread and water of Palestinian life. No one needs to invent a rage over a phantasmagoric enemy. There is a real one that is subjecting the people of all ages and conditions to humiliation, deprivation and death. Showing a man in a mouse costume to insist that children are being indoctrinated in hate might go down well with the uninformed masses, but a glimpse into the reality makes Farfur look like the sweetest kind of way for a child to assimilate and tolerate that he or she is a prisoner doomed for life to suffer in the most atrocious way for being born as a lesser being in the oppressors’ eyes.
9) The worst smear against Hamas is the one to keep them as the symbol of evil: that they are a terrorist group, financed by “rogue States in the axis of evil”. Bearing in mind that their financing is abysmally inferior to the gigantic economic and “military aid” package given to Israel by America, Canada and many other nations in the “international community” in an official way, why should the claim of foreign financing be considered as unacceptable when it is simply the way the that Israel keeps afloat through billions of dollars annually, up front, and heaven only knows what other financing comes in through the thousands of “charities” that are really little more than fronts for mass immigration to Israel to curtail Arab growth? If Zionism and its charities are considered as legitimate and noble, why are Islamic ones put on blacklists and the donors treated as if they are financing terrorism? There is a double standard here.
That Hamas has rejected terror operations against civilians and did its best to do so in the service of achieving a realistic improvement for the life conditions of its people is an authenticated fact, corroborated by none other than the USA Congressional Research Service, a Think Tank that basically presents its conservative and Israel-friendly positions to the Congress so that they become policy. In fact, in the document coordinated by Jim Zanotti http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R40101.pdf Israel and Hamas, Conflict in Gaza (2008-2009), we see that the quoted “reason” for the onslaught of Gaza to “cleanse it of Hamas”, the rockets fired into Israeli territory, was nothing but an excuse that the West drank down with gusto as if it were cherry juice. The extremely rudimentary rockets were recognised as NOT having been launched by Hamas, and not only that, Hamas was viewed as being able and willing to suppress the attacks. It is significant that the first victims of the Israeli attacks in Gaza were the regular police forces who had just been trained, perhaps also for this purpose. Zanotti writes:
For the first five months, the cease-fire held relatively well. Some rockets were fired into Israel, but most were attributed to non-Hamas militant groups, and, progressively, Hamas appeared increasingly able and willing to suppress even these attacks. No Israeli deaths were reported (although there were injuries and property damage), and Israel refrained from retaliation.
Nevertheless, each party felt as though the other was violating the terms of the unwritten ceasefire. Hamas demanded—unsuccessfully—that Israel lift its economic blockade of Gaza, while Israel demanded—also unsuccessfully—a full end to rocket fire and progress on the release of Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit from Hamas’s captivity.
Israel cited the sporadic rocket fire as justification for keeping the border crossings and Gaza’s seaport closed to nearly everything but basic humanitarian supplies. Hamas, other Arab leaders, and some international and non-governmental organizations involved in aiding Gazan civilians complained that Israel was reneging on its promises under the unwritten cease-fire agreement.
If that were not enough, the author, certainly not sympathetic in any way to Hamas, makes statements about the aftermath of the war where even Israel admits that Hamas was not responsible for the rockets:
Since Israel’s unilateral ceasefire began on January 18, 2009, there have been about 40 sporadic rocket launches into southern Israel, far fewer than occurred on average per day just before Operation Cast Lead. Moreover, Israeli officials believe that smaller militant groups, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and not Hamas, have fired the rockets, as they did during the cease-fire (although it is possible that Hamas is enabling or acquiescing to these attacks while preserving deniability).
So, Israel used the excuse of Hamas rocket launches to justify the elimination of Hamas (by means of destruction of the entirety of Gaza) through what they call “military operations” but the rest of humanity knows is war, while they were aware that Hamas was neither the author nor the facilitator of the rockets, any kind of excuse they pull out of the magic hat to justify their actions should fall on deaf ears. Complaints about arms smuggling through the most rudimentary of tunnels should stink to high heaven when we see the Defense Budget Appropriations for US-Israeli Missile Defense Programs in that same Congressional Report. Iron Dome, David’s Sling and other “military aid” costing the American people billions of dollars are described briefly. For every five ineffective bottle rockets that are smuggled through a tunnel, the USA is flying in full cargoes of arms and cases of cash to be spent by Israel for their military “needs”. The double standards here also draw innocent blood in violation of international law at the expense of your hard-earned money. Again, from the Congressional report:
Israel may have used weapons platforms and munitions purchased from the United States in its military operations in Gaza, reportedly including, among others, F-15 and F-16 aircraft, Apache helicopters, and, according to Israeli press reports, GBU-39 small diameter guided bombs approved for sale by the 110th Congress following notification in September 2008.
Additionally, all unilateral truces between Israel and Hamas (called by Hamas, not by Israel) were broken in every case by Israel. In many cases, making incursions into the Occupied Territories, which legally they are prohibited from doing, as civilian populations under occupation (even if the “settlers” have left, Gaza is kept under siege by Israel) are required to be protected by the occupier, not attacked. Israel, using weapons and planes supplied for them by the good graces of the people of the United States, bombarded streets where their targets (politicians and clerics that Israel terms as “militants” if not worse) were located, killing in an indiscriminate way anyone in the range, children included. If that’s not terrorism, the word has no meaning.
These are only a few of the myths in circulation. They represent just a portion of the lies, disinformation and hasbara that circulates about one of the major Palestinian parties, born from within, developing as all parties do, from below, and legitimised by fair and legal elections. Debunking these lies is a duty. One doesn’t need to agree to the entire programme of Hamas, but one is obligated to recognise that they are entirely different from the image that they have been straightjacketed into. What Jessica Rabbit said in the film, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” could very well apply to Hamas: “I’m not bad, they just draw me that way.”
This article is part of the Palestine Think Tank and Tlaxcala initiative The First Word War against Disinformation. If you would like to contribute your own original articles to this initiative, send them to contact@palestinethinktank.com or to tlaxcala@tlaxcala.es
visit www.tlaxcala.es and www.palestinethinktank.com
Mary Rizzo is an art restorer, translator and writer living in Italy. Editor and co-founder of Palestine Think Tank, co-founder of Tlaxcala translations collective. Her personal blog is Peacepalestine.
Email this author | All posts by Mary Rizzo
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Mary dearest
Thank you for such an honest, insightful and brave article
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Hamas – They're not bad, they're just drawn that way…
By Mary Rizzo *
In many parts of the West, certain political parties or movements are treated as if they come from the Moon or are alien to any body politic. Their existence among the people is always scrutinised as negat…
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The home of the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
http://tinyurl.com/67a4ul
"……Haniyeh moves without escort, and mixes freely with people on the streets. He has turned down the offer of 4,000 dollars a month as salary, and accepts only 1,500 dollars, which is what he needs, he says, for his family that includes 13 children. And he still lives in his old house in Shati Camp, one of the poorest refugee camps in the east of Gaza City."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42079
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Thank you Nahida! It's very easy to find false information and disinformation on Hamas and VERY hard to just get the facts out there. I hope that this article contributes at least a little to clearing up all that fog. I have been frustrated about everything written (very little, actually) about Hamas, and find the repetition of the lies and the myths and the hasbara dangerous, especially since so many activists who support Palestine repeat them.
You are right, Haniyeh is a man of his people, and this is another reason why the people know that it's a movement/party that is part of the people itself and while it of course is not perfect, it has tried its hardest to provide answers to the serious problems of the Palestinians.
A great article but sadly Hamas will not bring Palestinians a state. Regardless of who Hamas really are the perception is more important than the fact.
Salam Fayyad's plan for a Palestinian state in two years is perhaps the closest this movement will come, perhaps an only chance.
As much as I want to believe that the peace process will work it won't. It has and always will be wrong. It will always be a peace process, not a justice process. Justice then peace, something American strategists will never fathom. While Hamas has the horse in front of the cart they have nowhere to go. Not their fault maybe, but that doesn't make it any less true. If all Palestinians can get behind a declaration of independence and remain on a single path then there is a chance that the entire world would recognise Palestine as sovereign and bring the requisite pressure upon Israel. It's a slim chance.
Beyond that then one would need to go for a single state solution and an end to Israel as a majority Jewish country. A lost cause unless something changes dramatically.
A very timely and useful article .
Wonderful piece by the way, Mary. – You do much to dispel the toxic memes.
I never fail to see Norman Finkelstein's name mentioned without him being smeared as "a supporter of Hamas" as if such a statement confirms a view that he should be held in contempt. In fact, often through his writing one can see that Hamas maintains legitimacy in the face of Israel's actions.
"One man's freedom fighter…"
An excellent article thank you…
Thanks to Mary Rizzo for exposing the propagandist's misinformation concerning Hamas. In writing and researching such a work she goes against the grain of western based depictions of Hamas as a dangerous fringe group and explains the history of Hamas' inception from the roots of the Islamic brotherhood.
Mary Rizzo is not just a reader of news or translator, she is a thinker, analyst and truth teller, and very poised in showing how justified and meaningful political Islamic groups are maligned by business interests, political foes and occupation forces intent on hegemony or racketeering with corrupt militarists and/ or venture capitalists.
Mary makes the distinction between Fatah and the PLO, underscoring the Israeli?US conscription of Dahlan and now of Abbas in enforcing the parameters of the Olso accords to the detriment of both Palestine, as a nation and Hamas as it's elected leadership. Israel is not backing Hamas as anything other than a threat to Abbas and to Dahlan, should they decide not to be an ally of the occupation. Hamas is the threat posed by The people of Palestine by their votes to oust the PLO and Fatah from their roles as Israel's choice for Palestine. The People chose Hamas, Israel chose Abbas and the US, Dahlan.
Jordan is the site of US training of Abbas Fatah security which works with the US and IDF to quell uprisings in support of Gaza and Hamas. This action of US trained PA security forces in limiting protest and citizen assembly in favor of Hamas during Operation Cast lead is known to have been vital to Abbas hold on power and Israel's advancment of investments in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron to cement Dahlans place as business maven and facilitator of regional development that coincides with Israeli security needs and limited scope "peace process" discussions.
The implications of what Mary describes as the relations between Palestinian parties and their western (Israeli)detractors or supporters are easy to understand in context with both past history and present strategy; Israel and the US will always seek a marginalised and weak, divided and quarreling Palestine, while feeding the PA ?Fatah?PLO enough progress, development and stipends to hold their allegiance.
At the same time the US and Israel and other partners in occupation theology will cement the negative persona of any stated "enemy" by always useing the context with their organizational names:radical, terrorist, fundamentalist to insinuate danger, reprobate theology or inability to negotiate responsibly due to disunity.
It is such misinformation (propaganda) which empowers any given militarist aggression or disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples from their human rights.
Palestinians have the rights: To be different from others, select leaders who represent their status and platforms and the right to be safe and secure in any sect, religion or party that cares for the needs of it's constituents, provides representation in disputes in courts of law of both plaintiff and defendant, and legislates and enforces the laws chosen by consensus by the people. All of these basic human rights have been denied Hamas and citizens of Gaza, constituting crimes against human rights, war crimes and the intentional division of Palestine to deny the state of Palestine.
Palestine's borders, capital and charter as an independent nation ,defended, governed and supported by any outside funding that facilitates the development and security of Palestine will be established, reinforced, and supported by both NATO and the US, Israel, or international law and it's intention is destroyed by intransigence .
Hamas fights for human rights for Palestinians while working towards a meaningful outcome for both Gaza and the West Bank without surrendering to western hubris and bribery that satisfies a few but disenfranchised the many. This is responsible strategic planning, good stewardship of Palestinian national unity and honest brokerage of the wishes of the whole of the Palestinian diaspora, and it's internal Palestinian populations, excluding none as fringe or ostracized but making the necessary and prudent moves on the middle east chess broad towards those valued ends for the Palestinian people.
The US and Israel would never allow the Christian Zionist right wing, or the Ultra nationalist settlers and Israeli administration be isolated, bombed and kept in such debilitating conditions as Hamas is currently.
Lying is a bad habit. Eventually the truth catches up, the reality is exposed and criminals are embarrassed and prosecuted. The crime of the century is the armed robbery of Palestine, not bottle rockets. It's that simple. Hamas defends against this injustice and is legally rightful in doing so. It is the US and Israel whose warring is aggressive, posture repugnant and way of expansion, ugly in the extreme. Hamas may not be a beautiful virgin, but then, it is certainly much more "pure" than those who seek to denigrate this self made protector of human rights of Palestine.
Why lie when the truth will do ?
Thank Mary.. excellent work. No doubt the total failure of the PLO/Fatah at everything they set out to do including massive corruptions and collaborations with the enemy (yes, collaboration) and the way Arafat and his Preventive Security conducted themselves in Gaza running a mafia, a protection racketeering organization and the many criminal abuses, not to mention theft of public land by senior Fatah/PLO leaders all contributed to Hamas sweeping success in local elections. However not Israel, not the US. Certainly and in particularly Egypt were too happy with the election of Hamas, and all collaborated together with the PLO/Fatah leadership to make sure a Hamas led government never works, never function, and never have any authority. Of course the only source of authority for Fatah/PA/PLO is the control over “Security Forces” since this is the milking cow, and control over these corrupt organizations full of thugs, and misfits is the source of funding that keeps the PLO/Fatah/PA going. Without these security forces to protect Israel and its armed settlers no one will ever give money to the PA and if there is no money, Fatah and its operative will be on the streets without income (all Fatah members and operatives are on the public payroll for doing nothing). Hamas mistake was to participate in the election knowing well that it has to operate and govern within Oslo. Oslo is nothing but a management contract between the PLO/PA and Israel and when Hamas is the government it must be part of this deal, otherwise no one will fund its government and this is exactly what happened. It is all about funding the security forces to keep Israel and its armed settlers and thieves secure as they roam the Occupied Territories. No doubt Hamas got a raw deal, and its stupid uniformed decision to participate in the election was a big mistake.
Moreover Hamas use of suicide bombing was another fatal mistake and I myself though I am not against smart armed resistance directed toward soldiers and armed settlers within 67 borders, I was and continue to be against any kind of suicide bombing directed against civilians. Period, no if or but about, it is wrong.
Now Hamas want to keep its weapons for resistance and one has to raise the question of what kind of resistance Hamas is talking about? If the resistance is its Qassam rockets, then forget it, useless worthless and waste of time and money. If resistance is what we saw during Israeli war on Gaza then forget it? The balance sheet does not work very well in favor of Hamas. It simply failed to protect the people and simply failed to exact heavy damage and casualties on Israel. As such Hamas is using the issue of “resistance” to keep its militia and its source of power, not so different from Fatah and its source of power the thugs making up the security forces. If Hamas realy do think “resistance” is a must, then it must think of a different kind of resistance that has no place for suicide bombings, certainly has no place for its Qassam rockets. Unarmed civilian uprising all over the entire Occupied Territories with millions participating is the only solution to end the Jewish Occupation. Forget about Ramallah and its sell out of Palestine, forget about Damascus or Teheran and support for armed resistance. The only way to bring about an international intervention to end the Occupation is to have a general and massive strike and civil uprising for months that will put the PA out of business of occupation, put the PLO out of business once and for all, and give the power back to the people they should have in the first place. Hamas leadership has to come to earth. We had enough of Fatah and enough of Hamas power… we need the people power now and the future.
In March 2006, during my third of seven trips to the Little Town of Bethlehem in Occupied Territory I met four of the newly elected members of Hamas and Mayor Batarseh-a Christian who said:
"When the occupation is ended there will be peace. If the world boycotted Israel for six months they would comply with the UN Resolutions which is all we want! There is state terrorism and Israel must be forced to recognize our right to exist. For the past ten years Hamas has worked with and helped the poorest of people, they have built schools and orphanages. The PA took the money but Hamas was providing the social services. Israel is a state built on religious beliefs. The US and EU and all the free world are against theocracies. But Israel has the right to do anything!"
The four Hamas representatives I met were:
Anwer M. Zboun, who lives in the Abiet refugee camp and has a Masters Degree in Physics and Mahmoud Alkhatib who lives in Aida refugee camp and obtained a Master’s in Islamic Studies- elected to the Palestinian Parliament/PLC:.
Khaled Saada and Salah Shuka were elected to the Municipality/local government and my translator was George Rishmawi, a Christian from Beit Sahour whom I first met in June 2005 when he worked for Holy Land Trust and is now the Coordinator for Siraj.
Zboun joked in English, “We welcome you to our home and the Holy City of Bethlehem. We are suppose to be terrorists, are you afraid?”
The following quotes came from all four Hamas members:
“We are a Palestinian resistance movement and not against any people. We are against the occupation. We want to rebuild what the occupation has destroyed.”
“Hamas was born from the suffering of the Palestinian people and we belong to the global Muslim movement. It was on December 14, 1987 after an Israeli driver killed 9 Palestinians that the first Intifada [uprising] began and the Islamic Resistance movement in Palestine was renamed Hamas.”
“Hamas is a national liberation movement based on Shariha [Islamic Laws and Orders]. Hamas is not against any religion. We are not a terrorist movement we resist the occupation. Christians voted for us for many reasons and they know we are faithful to this cause: that God knows better than we ourselves know what is for our benefit. We do not force anyone to believe as we do. The public and private schools both teach Islam and Christianity.
“In November 1988 Arafat issued a birth certificate for the Palestinian State and under religion he stated: ‘None, we are a secular state.’
“As Muslims and Christians we live together peacefully and our attitude is citizenship is for everyone. Everybody should have freedom of belief, traditions and to a personal life. Hamas does not propose anything that contradicts Christianity.”
“Our slogan is: Remove Suffering for Everyone. The issue of Israel is about the occupation. We have no problems with religious beliefs, our problem is that they are illegally occupying our land.”
“Since March 2005 we have honored a unilateral cease-fire. But Israel has martyred 200 Palestinians, injured 1,200 and detained 3,500. Many are under the age of sixteen. In the last two weeks Israel has killed twenty-five Palestinian and yet we have maintained the cease-fire. Israel does not recognize us and recognition takes both sides.
“Abbas has stated we do recognize Israel, but there must be clear borders and Israel does not yet have them. The PA recognized Israel ten years ago but we Palestinians are detained in an open air prison.”
“We resist the occupation which is guaranteed under International Law. International Law demands Israel withdraw to the 1967 borders, release the prisoners, stop the assassinations, illegal wall and home demolitions.”
“Hamas defines terrorism as a violation of the rights of others and their property. Bush defined terrorism as “evil.”
“We are weak with resources and our voice is not heard in the West, only the voice of America and Israel gets press. America asked us to hold democratic elections and we did. We thank everyone who was involved in our transparent and democratic elections. We did what the USA asked and now they are punishing our people. Democracies are supposed to respect and not intervene in what others want.
“We had democratic and transparent elections and how are we rewarded? By the EU and the USA who are cutting funds to the poorest of people who live under occupation. Hamas suggested that the International community monitor that all the financial aid went to the people and not to Hamas. We offered this suggestion to the world and have been ignored.
“So now we look to the Arab and Muslim world to strengthen our local infrastructure and economy and hope to bring back investors. We know there are people in Europe and America who will not allow us to go hungry. We believe aid and support are in Gods hands and not governments.”
-Excerpted from "Memoirs of a Nice Irish-American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
[...] WRITTEN BY MARY RIZZO, Palestinian think tank [...]
***********************************
Women of Hamas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqAWGHzzoQ0&NR=1&feature=fvwp
***********************************
Hamas is second best think ever happened to the Arab Resistance against western colonial experiment in the Middle East – the first best being the Lebanese Islamic Resistance and leader of Opposition – Hizb'Allah.
James Gundun writing in "The Trench" said – “Hamas can’t be beaten. Obviously President Obama shouldn’t join it, but he may have no choice to work with it…. President Obama can’t beat Hamas , but if he doesn’t act proactively, it can beat him…… President Obama and Israel have no chance of marginalizing Hamas through wars, blockades, diplomatic exclusion, or military and economic support for the Fatah. Their only hope is advancing the peace process and robbing Hamas of its cause to resist. Otherwise stalled negotiations play right into Hamas’s hands, who is using the delay to reposition itself as a necessary component of Palestinian statehood and champion the resistance in the face of Israeli obstinacy……."
And how Hamas became No.2 – by its leaders like Professor Jamila Abdallah Taha al-Shanti (Islamic University, Gazzah). She is an academic, politician and women human rights activist. A mother of six children, who became a widow when her husband, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, a top leader of Palestinian Islamic Resistance group Hamas – was assassinated by Zionazi missile attack in 2004. In 2006, the Zionazis, also tried to assassinate her – though she survived but her sister-in-law was killed in that attack – leaving her eight nieces orphans……
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/jamila-al-shanti-the-mujahida/
Terrible crimes against innocent Palestinian civilians
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/01/gaza-massacre.html
Excellent article.
You've forgotten to tell your reader that the alleged Hamas suicide bombers which supposedly killed and maimed thousands of Zionists is a hoax created by the Zionists to smear Hamas. Hamas never kill
civilians , only Zionist soldiers!
Mary I cannot thank you enough for this wonderful piece. Speaking for myself, you taught me a lot more about this party in one article than I have learned in a long time. For me, this was truly a mind opening read and I repeat, I cannot thank you enough. The moment I read it, I had to post it (with all due credits and links of course) in my small attempt to make such information go viral.
I know I have protested much cartoon imagery in the west in regards to Hamas ~ and Hezbollah ~ but now I have some facts to back it up. I understand a little better now why the people voted them in, as opposed to having no better option at the time. There are still things I do not approve of, but no one ever agrees with everything political 100%.
Once again, thanks so very very much.
Shaukat. I saw that film over a year ago. The man who made it is a paid Zionist agent who happens to be Arab. He stated on his YouTube site that he was living in israel. I have forgotten his name but I do remember that he had many such videos and had an agenda to discredit Palestine and its leaders. He employs that old propaganda trick of taking an incident out of context and use it to further his own ends.
thanks to everyone who commented (especially to anyone who complimented! That makes me feel good!) I've been a bit busy, but appreciate the interest and am especially glad that this article is helping to sweep away some of the lies and the propaganda, so that at least we can get on with dealing with facts and not lies.
Scott B writes: While there most certainly is a "fear trigger", this is largely Hamas' own doing. The party name may also be an acronym, meaning "zeal" in Arabic, but it can't have escaped notice of those selecting that name that in Hebrew (as transliterated) it means "violence". (Cf. Gen. 6:11, etc.) …Though now at quite a late date, it would behoove them to rename (or at least retransliterate)
their party more appropriately.
My response:
Scott,
You missed the real problem with the name "Hamas." In English, it sounds like "ham ass." This is obscene, unkosher, and un-halal all at the same time!
Since English is the world's dominant language, Arabs should select names for their groups based on the connotations of the English transliteration, not the Hebrew one. And of course they shouldn't give a rat's ass, or even a ham's ass, about what the name means in the original Arabic.
Anyway, now I understand why the English-speaking governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia don't support "Ham Ass." As you suggest, the party needs to be renamed for the sake of Arab unity if nothing else.
PS The name of the Jewish/Israeli language "Hebrew" sounds like "he brew" in English, meaning "he make beer." While here in Wisconsin most folks don't have a problem with that, the world's anglophone Muslims are profoundly miffed. I suggest that you start a movement to change it to something less offensive. Imagine, the third Muslim holy land invaded and occupied by people whose language is named after beermaking! That's probably the main cause of conflict in the Middle East, now that I think about it.
Kevin Barrett
http://truthjihad.blogspot.com/2009/11/time-to-re-name-ham-ass.html
Thank you for this great journalism job, Mary. I wish it'll help to get people to open their eyes and stop only hearing the stories they WANT to hear but to accept that what is ony the truth.
I don't know how everything had turned in favour of the Palestinian people if Erdogan was able to speak English. A politician had not been able to show any better performance than Erdogan did. He tried anything he could do to debunk the myths. But they did anything they could do to silence his voice he raised up so high for his Palestinian sisters and brothers, for his people in Palestine.
The translations of his speech were censored by the translators, they have not translated all of his words and sentences and they have interpreted some of them wrong on purpose or translated them incomplete. What he said in his own speech was maybe even more important than what he said to the Chief Nazi Commander Peres. He speaks of Hamas as the "Reform and Change Party" representing the Palestinian people as an organ operating in a democracy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7P0eBJBnTM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukz1fIO-Ygc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmCCCOvt2D4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNO3pgllgdI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl1dwnKLrcw
Mary Rizzo
Great job of whitewashing a terrorist organization responsible for targeting and killing Israeli pregnant moms and children. Its one thing when the "left" criticizes Israeli policies. Its quite another when you hop in bed with killers – and lie about who they are and their ultimate intentions.
"……“We do not and will not recognize a state called Israel. Israel has no right to any inch of Palestinian land. This is an important issue. Our position stems from our religious convictions. This is a holy land. It is not the property of the Palestinians or the Arabs. This land is the property of all Muslims in all parts of the world.” (al-Zahar, 2005a)….."
Wouldn't you say this statement by a leader of Hamas is clearcut? Their charter is an antisemitic diatribe which a true leftist would condemn, but your silence on this issue only encourages Jew hatred. Yes, the same hatred that led to the (ongoing like in Yemen) expelling of 800,000-1,000,000 Jews from the greater Middle East. Arabs (primarily) accomplish this through terrorism and harassment.
The Hamas charter has never been renounced by their leaders because they are a fundamentalist Islamic organization that believes Palestine is Islamic (holy) land. For example, they offer only a temporary peace treaty (hudna) to Israel, and as they stated above, they will never recognize a "Jewish" state in Palestine (or anywhere else that was formerly under Islamic control through their centuries of invasion and conquering peoples and land). You cannot moderate Hamas.
From the Hamas charter:
"…The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is a religious
Islamic endowment [waqf] for all Muslims until Resurrection Day. It is forbidden
to relinquish it or any part of it or give it up or any part of it. It does not belong
to any Arab country, or to all the Arab countries, or to any king or president, or
kings or presidents, or to any organization or organizations, whether they are
Palestinian or Arab, because Palestine is sacred Islamic endowment land and
belongs to Muslims until Resurrection Day. Its legal status is in accordance with
Islamic law…."
and their obvious antisemitism,
"…Thus [the Jews], by means of their money, have taken over the international communications media: the news agencies, newspapers, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, etc. [Not only that,] they used their money to incite revolutions in various places all over the world for their own interests and to reap the fruits thereof. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution and most of the revolutions we have heard about [that happened here and there]. They used their money to found secret organizations and scattered them all over the globe to destroy other societies and realize the interests of Zionism……..They are all destructive espionage organizations which, by means of money, succeeded in taking over the imperialist countries and encouraged them to take over many other countries to be able to completely exploit their resources and spread corruption. [Their involvement in] local and world wars can be spoken of without fear of embarrassment. In fact, they were behind the First World War, through which achieved the abolishment of the Islamic Caliphate made a profit and took over many of the sources of wealth. They [also] got the Balfour Declaration and established the League of the United [sic] Nations to be able rule the world. They were also behind the Second World War, in which they made immense profits by buying and selling military equipment, and also prepared the ground for the founding of their [own] state. They ordered the establishment of the United Nations and the Security Council [sic] which replaced the League of the United [sic] Nations, to be able to use it to rule the world….” My brackets
Your silence (and support) of Hamas's antisemitism makes you a party to a new generation of hatred. This is entirely unsurprising. The spike of antisemitic incidents in Europe during Operation Cast Lead was encouraged by the leftist media and academia, and left wing political organizations. The "modern" left represents a new and growing hate group.
"Antisemitism" card is obsolete, did no one tell the misguided zionists that yet??
zionists have been crying "wolf, wolf, wolf…….." for decades
No one believes that mantra any more
So pathetic an argument
The world is discovering the lies that it has been fed
The world is sick of hasbara,
The world is nauseated with watching zionists bloodbaths soaking innocent people all over the planet
The world is raging with anger, at those who are destroying its heritage, from beautiful Palestine, ancient Iraq, historic Afghanistan, and the threat to dignified Iran
All slaughtered and disfigured at the altar of the “chosen” ones!!!
Wake up army of zion and smell the coffee
Enough to read people's comment on progressive sites world-wide to understand what has been happening in the world, while zionist were busy bombing babies to pieces with white phosphorus, in Gaza refugee camps and Lebanon narrow neighbourhoods
The world is changing
And it's not going to be a good change for zionist murderers, robbers and land-grabbers
"Antisemitism" card
NOOO
Play another
.
Ms. Rizzo
"…….The world is nauseated with watching zionists bloodbaths soaking innocent people all over the planet…."
This could have been copied right out of the Hamas charter that I posted above. I would think that the left would discourage this kind of hate speech.
Evidence of CRIMES against Humanity:
Please WATCH, SAVE, and SHARE
Let the TRUTH be known
Don't Say "I Didn't Know!!
Don't Say "I Haven't Seen!!
Don't Say ″The Media Didn't Tell Me″ !!
WARNING…. very disturbing
Illegal weapons, used on civilians in Gaza and Lebanon
http://tinyurl.com/yk9arbu
Gaza Genocide
http://tinyurl.com/ycnojwt
http://tinyurl.com/yhv2col
Racist zionist morality
http://tinyurl.com/yg27obf
Attacking medics, ambulances and press
http://tinyurl.com/98uq43
Children of Palestine
http://tinyurl.com/8qhcxy
http://tinyurl.com/yfwxvtw
……
“There are two different and distinct entities: the human being, and the Jew who is part of G-d”
..
“We are a G-dly people, we have G-dly souls. Our place is in Heaven, in fact higher than Heaven because Heaven is also a created place, and we are a part of G-d”
…
“The world wants leadership and who are they going to look to for moral leadership if not the Jews?”
….
“We are to treat other Jews as Divine beings, because that’s what they are”
(quotes by Rabbi Manis Friedman)
Excerpts from:
Print:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2902/jewish/What-Is-the-Cause-of-Antisemitism.htm
Audio:
http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/300700/jewish/If-Youre-Chosen-Act-It.htm#
And your point Nahida?
The world is nauseated with watching zionists bloodbaths soaking innocent people all over the planet
http://www.grandestrategy.com/2009/10/s-change-player-size-watch-this-video.html
Weren't we originally discussing Hamas? How did we get to Iraq and Afghanistan? And the events on the video (comment 28) are do to Jews? Please explain why Jews are to blame for US foreign policy? I'm interested.
The world is also nauseated with hearing the arrogant beasts boasting about their spiritual divinity, intellectual uniqueness, moral superiority, democratic exceptionality, military dominance, and victim-hood exclusivity
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. .
"It is this soul that gives the Jew the power to be G-dly in a human world, and supernatural in a natural universe.
"….. the Jew has an additional mission, and therefore an additional soul."
Rabbi Shlomo Chein
http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/192,2172582/Can-you-describe-the-Jewish-soul.html#article_email_loc
================================================
“We have proved ourselves to be the leaders of enlightenment, progress and revolution wherever we have traveled.."
"If it were not for Jews, there would be no concept of human dignity, of meaning and purpose, of the right of every person to education and knowledge, of social justice and of the value of world peace”
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/743998/jewish/How-do-you-get-a-Jewish-soul.htm
================================================
“We are Jews because G-d chose us to be His ".cherished treasure from all the nations… a kingdom of priests and a holy people" (Exodus 19:5-6).
"We are Jews because G-d chose us to play the central role in the implementation of His purpose in creation"
"A Jew, although he has transgressed, is a Jew."
MeaningfulLife.com
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/45132/jewish/What-Makes-a-Jew-Jewish.htm
================================================
"When a poor person comes to a Jew and asks for something to eat, the Jew is actually lowering himself to give the poor person a meal…"
"When a Jew gives tzedakah, he's basically a Divine being accepting human obligations; he is basically humbling himself, lowering himself into the worldly human condition. When a non-Jew gives charity, he is basically a human being trying to elevate himself to something more Divine"
"So we can't say we're ordinary people like everyone else because they see that we're not like them, we're a Heavenly people"
"A Jew is a different kind of creature with a different soul"
"a Jew is a piece of G-d"
"or we're going to stand up straight and say, "Yes, we're different, we're special, we're Jewish, we're created from G-d's thought. Yes, we are chosen and we therefore must live up to that title."
Rabbi Manis Friedman
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2902/jewish/What-Is-the-Cause-of-Antisemitism.htm
.
Thanks Nahida
Mary – Back to Hamas for one moment.
From your discussion on Hamas, under the title of "democracy":
"……….When the word “democracy” is applied correctly, it has certain characteristics, and Hamas meets these. Hamas has popular consensus. It has an internal structure that is autonomous and recognised as legitimate by its constituency. It follows the rules of elections, meeting the requirements for participation. Once elected, it assumes its role within the existing system, not having overthrown or staged coups against established structures. It is a political movement with several factions (some of them armed, as is true of many parties in areas under occupation, Fatah included) with a history and an organisation. There is widespread discussion among its constituencies, including those who are political prisoners, prior to making decisions, and the majority decides the actions to be undertaken……."
And then a statement bu al-Zahar in 2005,
"……….“Three months ago, Sweden permitted men to marry men and women to marry women. Are these punishments the democracy that we want? Are these the laws that the Palestinian street looks forward
to? Will we give homosexual and lesbian rights to a minority of emotional and moral perverts, or [will we {Palestinians} choose] the other law that awaits us? . . . We must choose the law we want: the law of the
jungle, chaos, AIDS, and homeless people . . . or the law of justice and mercy that we so badly need?” (al-Zahar, 2005b)……."
Democracy my ass. Is this the kind of values that you promote today, Mary? The mantra of the left used to be human rights, civil rights and civil liberties. Western democracies promote and protect "minority" rights (especially progressives), and Islamists hate what you represent, Mary. They hate the secular, atheistic left. Yes, you are nothing but an alliance of convenience and Islamists are pragmatic. They will accept your misguided help in much the same way that Islamists aligned with the US in Afghanistan. The left in Iran (who helped overthrow the Shah) were arrested, tortured and murdered after the Shah was disposed so that the new Islamic government under the Ayatollah Khomeini prevailed. Hamas is comprised of cold-blooded killers, and a philosophy of hate.
Thanks for your time.
The Lobby
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2894821400057137878#
http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0040.pdf
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/16/pro-israel-lobby-conservatives-channel4-dispatches
"israel" provided false evidence against Iraq's WMD
http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=598
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3294865.stm
71% of Israelis want U.S. to strike Iran
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/860903.html
mossad in Iraq
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=689217324327988215#
http://www.rense.com/general82/dzse.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jul/16/israel
Mossad murdered 530 Iraqi scientists
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_21935.shtml
ZIONIST TERRORISM
http://guardian.150m.com/palestine/jewish-terrorism.htm
http://www.ihr.org/books/ztn.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mJp5d3ffP8
.
The Lobby
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2894821400057137878#
http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0040.pdf
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/16/pro-israel-lobby-conservatives-channel4-dispatches
.
"israel" provided false evidence against Iraq's WMD
http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=598
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3294865.stm
71% of Israelis want U.S. to strike Iran
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/860903.html
.
mossad in Iraq
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=689217324327988215#
http://www.rense.com/general82/dzse.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jul/16/israel
Mossad murdered 530 Iraqi scientists
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_21935.shtml
.
ZIONIST TERRORISM
http://guardian.150m.com/palestine/jewish-terrorism.htm
http://www.ihr.org/books/ztn.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mJp5d3ffP8
mossad in Iraq
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=689217324327988215#
http://www.rense.com/general82/dzse.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jul/16/israel
.