Article Preview
Hamas's Unchanged Heart
- Abstract
The latest attempt to convince Israelis that worries about their security are unfounded concerns a supposed shift in the worldview of Hamas. Some say the terrorist group is about to embark on a new path of nonviolence. But as the rocket barrages that continue to fall on southern Israel attest, this is yet another example of peace-processers not listening to what the Islamist rulers of Gaza say in Arabic to their own people as opposed to what they say in English to the Western media. The one truthful element of the story is that Turkey is now stepping up as Hamas’s main financial and diplomatic backer. Hamas has not given up its goal of eliminating Israel, a point that its spokesman made in Gaza to reassure the group’s supporters. But it is hoping to use its recent deal with Fatah, the governing authority in the West Bank, to spread its influence there. Palestinian “unity” will enable Islamists to lay claim to all the territories—making peace impossible and a new round of bloodshed likely.
The Obama administration’s decision to try “engagement” with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a repeat of its flopped attempt to reach out to Iran in 2009. This is a major reversal of U.S. policy that till now has rightly seen the Islamist group as a threat. It is even more misguided in the context of the administration’s public unhappiness with Egypt’s current military rulers. After the victory of the Brotherhood and other Islamist parties, it is obvious Egyptian democracy is not leading to freedom. If America’s choice in Egypt is between the Brotherhood and an unsavory military that wishes to maintain the peace with Israel, it’s hard to understand why Obama would choose engagement with the Islamists.
About the Author
Jonathan Tobin is Senior Online Editor of COMMENTARY.
This article is available for purchase to subscribers and for individual purchase
Subscriber Sign In
Not A Subscriber?
