Why the rush towards cease fire? — Give war a chance.

Once before, something even better than a cease fire was tried. All the people of Gaza wanted was to be left alone and exist as a sovereign nation everyone was told.  So Israel agreed to the evacuation of  Gaza. The best and brightest minds all concluded that if the Israelites just left Gaza it would marginalize Islamist appeal by giving the Palestinians what they want–a state and a future. That was tried in 2005.  It was hailed as a major concession for the wonderful price of peace.

The Palestinians were supposed to form a collective conclusion that the existence of the Jewish state was formidable and a reality. Soon everyone would negotiate a compromise for a permanent peace. The Palestinians could pick up the pieces and begin to build for themselves a country and elect a government with an idea for a final end for conflict. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

So what did happen after Israel surrendered to popular demand?

Only the sweeping election of Hamas and an increasingly fanatical and militarized Palestine. Then, of course, this was followed by continued rocket attacks and the institutionalization of hate and anti-Jewish/West teachings.

What was learned by any of this? 

Israel realized that Hamas was fundamentally hostile to their existence. It is called reality and it works. These Islamist are not fighting for a state, they are simply fighting for hate. And probably most damning of all was that the evacuation was seen as triumph to Islamist everywhere and glorified their tactics of suicide bombers and killing of innocents. This reinforced Hamas’ position as the Islamic soldiers they portray themselves to be:  Violence and force backed by Islam can conquer all. Moderation is a Western term. Islam only functions in absolutes. Hamas is Islam. 

So what was Hamas up to after this past cease fire?

Did they have time to think about the uselessness and wasteful principles of war? No, they did not. They prepared for an even bigger war. Yet that does not stop the U.N. and countless other leaders around the world for calling for another misguided and blanketed cease fire. 

Matthew Levitt from Middle East Strategy at Harvard helps us out in “Hiding terrorist activity”

Hamas was still able to smuggle some 80 tons of explosives, roadside bombs and longer-range rockets into Gaza over the course of the past ceasefire. Were it not for that success, Hamas would not have been able to continue firing rockets at southern Israeli communities, let alone effectively control Gaza. Denied access to regular trade routes and international banking, Hamas developed alternative mechanisms such as an extensive network of smuggling tunnels, taxes and custom fees, and increases reliance on charitable front organizations.

Mr. Levitt mentions several front organizations that assist in supplying and constructing a war infrastructure for Hezbollah and Hamas. They do this through “deceptive means to seek funding projects from international development organizations, according to Treasury.”

He concludes

Given that its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas engage in deceptive financial practices to fund their illicit activities, it should not surprise that Iran itself engages in similar deception to conceal the nature of its sponsorship of terrorist groups. Iran has used Bank Saderat as a preferred means of transferring funds to terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, PIJ, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command. The Treasury Department revealed one case in which Iran sent $50 million to a Hezbollah-controlled organization between 2001 and 2006.

In terms of the current fighting in Gaza, dealing with Iran’s parallel support of Hamas—be it through smuggling tunnels, “charitable” front organizations, or otherwise—will have to be a central focus of any international ceasefire plan.

So maybe it is time that Israel sends it own message that Islam isn’t an absolute and any force will be met with an overwhelming response. Israel should effectively rub out Hamas and their militant fighters. Hamas has had most of Gaza and its people under siege and their general welfare has suffered since they assumed power. Not to mention, they have thrown their people into the fire by starting a war with a country far more powerful and far more advanced. The people of Gaza are the ones feeling the effects of war as they watch their buildings go up in flames and crumble. They see the dead bodies of friends, relatives and countrymen. They also can plainly see who willingly led them into this war. Hamas has sacrificed the people of Gaza in the name of Islam and hate. 

 

The message is a clear one. This is the price you pay when groups like Hamas are elected. This is the price terrorist organizations pay when you endanger the lives of citizens of other countries. The lessons and results may be more binding and constructive then permanent evacuations or cease fires that only secure the status quo and, ironically enough, contributes and guarantees more suffering and death in the future. 

The region deserves peace and the people of Gaza and Israel deserve to live quietly and securely. I think its time we give war a chance. 

Gary Bauer writes “Gaza Needs a Regime Change”

Hamas has held southern Israel hostage in the year and a half since it took over in Gaza. But it has also destroyed the lives of its 1.5 million subjects.  In fact, Gaza’s economic plight has gone from bad to worse under Hamas rule.  Most Gazans rely on food handouts from international organizations, and 97 percent of Gaza industry has shut down for lack of raw materials.  Nearly half of the work force is unemployed, including tens of thousands of factory workers. Fuel shortages regularly cause hours-long power outages, and most businesses have been forced to shut down. 

In a revealing development, physicians have noticed a disturbing trend of drug use among Gaza youths since Hamas took over. In an attempt to deal with the anxiety and stress of life under a terrorist regime, up to a third of young Gaza men have become addicted to pain-killers.

To listen to Hamas and its apologists is to believe that its failures are the fault of the Israeli embargo.  But the embargo would be lifted if Hamas simply stopped attacking Israel.  

A major reason why so many more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed is that Israel puts its people’s safety first and has developed a sophisticated system of bomb shelters and warning systems to protect them.  In contrast, Hamas has done nothing to protect its people.  In fact, as has been noted, Hamas hides among its civilians so that more Palestinians die and so that Hamas can use those deaths as propaganda to cultivate sympathy across the globe.  

The Islamists, who have stated clearly and repeatedly that they value death as much as the West values life, have no qualms about killing their own people for the sake of propaganda.  That is why they send women, children and even persons with disabilities out to do their bidding as homicide bombers.  

It is fair to say that the Israeli military values the lives of Palestinians more than Hamas does, a fact that is evident by Israel’s routinely warning Palestinians before striking civilian areas where terrorists are hiding or stashing weapons.  

Regime change is a prerequisite to peace in Gaza.  While the Hamas leadership was democratically elected, not all democratically-elected leaders (see: Hitler, Adolf) are legitimate.  Hamas’s mission is to wipe Israel off the map, and it has done nothing to show it is willing to deviate from that goal.  

But, amid the devastation, there may be a glimmer of hope in Gaza. In June, a brave Gaza shop owner, put out of his business by the poor economic conditions, perhaps spoke for others as he lamented Hamas’s presence.  Speaking to a New York Times reporter, he said, “Everything that has happened here has been a terrible mistake.  It is a mistake for Islamist to get into power.  But what can we do?  Hamas is even stronger than a year ago.  They can take me and put me away whenever they want.”

This week, amid reports of dead and injured civilians in Gaza, reporters quoted a mother of a teenage girl whose body was cut in half in the fighting.  “May God exterminate Hamas!” she screamed.