Hamas Official Calls Violence Palestinian Disease
Ghazi Hamad, spokesman of the Palestinian government and senior Hamas official wrote an article for the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam. In it, he wonders whether violence has become a Palestinian disease.
“Has violence become a culture implanted in our bodies and our flesh?”
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“We have surrendered to it until it has become the master and is obeyed everywhere — in the house, the neighborhood, the family, the clan, the faction and the university.”
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“(Violence) has taken away the language of brotherhood and replaced it with arms … It has stolen our unity and divided us into two camps, or three, or ten,” he wrote.
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“Are we all responsible? Yes. Do we all participate in this great sin? Yes, all of us have the desire not to see arms in the streets except with policemen.“We want to disown this disease, this cancer, which has damaged our brains and paralyzed our hearts.
“Have mercy on your people. Let us walk in peace, sit in peace, have a dialogue in peace and sleep in calm.”
You mean indoctrinating children to crave death and violence, militarizing every aspect of society, watching hate propaganda on television 24/7, and voting for a genocidal terrorist gang … might have consequences?
And wonders:
It’s tempting to see this as a tiny baby step toward self-awareness—but the intent of this self-examination is solely to become more efficient and PR-savvy in the ultimate task of wiping out Israel.
To a degree I agree with Charles on this one. However, it is far too easy to dismiss these two article by Hamad based on Charles’s reasoning. In the end, if Hamas choses to try to destroy Israel through political means… well, I still strongly object to them and to their goals, but at least Palestinians are not blowing themselves up in Israeli restaurants, or killing each other. Once the step towards the condemnation of violence has been made – whether for political purposes or not – at least one kind of immediate threat will be removed for Israel (and for the Palestinians themselves of course).
The problem, however, is that for now, even Palestinians speaking out against violence, do not seem to understand that it is quite logical that the Palestinians are quite hateful / violent: one only needs to look at some of the propaganda commercials / (music) videos broadcasted on PA TV…
For the violence to stop, the PA needs to stop feeding its people with hatred.
30 Responses to “Hamas Official Calls Violence Palestinian Disease”
What the hell are you talking about, MvdG? Destroy Israel through political means? Tell me how exactly Hamas proposes to destroy Israel through entirely political methods.
What wishful thinking! Believe it or not, what Hamas is effectively calling for is more national unity so Palestinian factions can form a united front in the jihad against Israel. Having your enemies slug it out with each other is more likely to keep you safe than having them unite against you. What you are proposing is what I call the “Iroquois bargain.” The original five tribes of the Iroquois used to be at each other’s throats in neverending blood feuds. A peacemaker, Hiawatha, finally emerged and managed to unite the Iroquois in a confederation. All internal violence among the Iroquois ceased. Did that make the Iroquois any more peaceable towards their neighbors? Hardly. United, the Iroquois became increasingly aggressive towards surrounding tribes like the Huron. Many of the Iroquois’ rivals were completely exterminated. Internal peace didn’t translate into external peace; it simply meant a redirection of the violence towards outsiders. I think you are trying to impose European norms on people with a very non-European perspective towards violence, MvdG.
Tommy, it is important to point out that this same fellow wrote an articlea bout Palestinian violence against Israel not too long ago.
I can agree with your view to a degree, but I believe it is somewhat more nuanced than you make it out to be.
The nuance I see is that even if Palestine was united — hell even if Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordad and Egypt were united — Israel could still wipe the floor with them. Despite all their propaganda, they have to see that Israel treats their Arab citizens way better than the surrounding countries treat their Palestinian populations…maybe just maybe the Palestinians will give up violence not because they don’t want to destroy Israel, but because the more violent they become the worse their life gets and there is nothing they can do about it. Michael Totten’s journey to Gaza was interesting because he pointed out there was continual low-level war where the Israelis were containing the militants and it was such a non-issue that people in the middle and northern parts of Israel never even mentioned it.
Mikey:
They can’t stop the violence. Like commentary wrote in the eighties Israel effectively broke up all moderate groups. Then they helped organize Hamas.
And they pretty much destroyed the limited economic infrastructure of the Palestinians and made them dependant on Israeli imports while earning their wages in Israel.
Now they don’t have those jobs! Ha Ha Ha! And while the pay taxes on imports Israel doesn’t give them the money sothey go hungry. And in Gaza Israel has pretty much turned off the electricity. Just think no air conditioning or water on a summer day.
Israel knows how to treat arabs. No bomb shelters for their villages while positoning troops in them so they die from Hezbollah, the subhumans.
It’s great!!!!
It’s taking a while but pretty soon we’ll have hem killng each other off! Like president Bush said Iraq is the model! Unfortunatly the anti semites kind of delayed things in Lebanon but there’s time. But we all need to vote Republican.
The cycle of violence will end only when both the Israelis and the Palestinians decide to give up terrorism.
You can hardly blame the starving, impoverished Palestinian population for resorting to violence.
How would you feel about Israelis if your neighborhood was constantly bombed and invaded by Israeli troops?
Chris: yeah great. Well, for one thing, I would perhaps think about, you know, not supporting terrorism against the sovereign state of Israel.
I’m just calling for fairness. By definition, Israel is carrying out terrorism in the occupied territories.
And Israeli terrorism is creating more terrorists in the occupied territories.
It’s not just the innocent Israelis minding their own business and being attacked by savage Muslims.
If the international community can recognize that both Israel and the occupied Palestine are engaging in terrorism maybe we can start trying to end the violence.
“You can hardly blame the starving, impoverished Palestinian population for resorting to violence.
How would you feel about Israelis if your neighborhood was constantly bombed and invaded by Israeli troops?”
What was their excuse in 1947? 1967? Same question could apply to Jordan, Egypt, Syria et al….
Slamfu,
Should the actions of extremists on either side result in collective punishment?
That is what is happening now, collective punishment for the Israeli and Palestinian people.
To tie my comments back in with the original post, I think it’s imperative that we recognize the parallels between the Israelis and Palestinians.
On both sides we have the mainstream media making excuses for the continued bloodshed of innocents.
Slamfu:
1947 – Palastinians attack isreal because it was a state created by british and US interest. the palastinians had been occupied there by britian for years, and when they have a chance to get their country back…isreal is created and they are given the boot to camps….gee i wonder why they attacked.
1967 – Isreal mounts an attack that led to hundreds of civilian casualties in response to terrorist attacks on isreali military esstablishment. This caused egypt to get into the fight because their “islamic brothers” were being massacured.
Now my opinions. I personally see no reason why isreal is there. Im not arabic nor am i islamic…im catholic for readers knowledge. But honestly isreal was created because of christian leaders saw fit to give them their “promised land” after hitler killed millions and dislocated even more from their homes. The fact is that the palastinians won the land of isreal fair and square in warfare. the same way we won our great country.
Now imagine if you can:
United States loses WW3 and the european countries make it so all the land that was theirs is now theirs again, or even better the indians get the land back. Are you telling me americans wouldnt be pissed that their land just got given back to the people they fought hard and long to be able to call that land home?
You guys forget that we feed isreal with military supplies. We give them f-16 jets, and tanks and shells and nuclear stockpiles. Palastinians get no conventional weapons and we shun them for using what they have to fight for their land? spare me.
I may seem like an ass in this comment but please understand that i dont live in isreal. If isreal falls to palastine tomorrow it doesnt effect us the way the government has made it out to be. I honestly believe that the conflict between palastinians and isrealis is a conflict of nations. Palastine is deemed using terrorist because of the unconventional weapons they use to strike. Do i think strapping a bomb to yourself and running into a building to kill civilians is wrong? your damn right i do. But is suicide bombing wrong? hell no.
Palastine needs to understand the difference between civilian and military, then and only then will international support for the palastinian nation begin. As long as palastinian warfare relies largely on attacking civilian isreali’s then i condem their actions. But i dont condem their reasons.
Do isreali’s commit terroist actions? yes they do. when they target civilian sectors of the gaza strip and west bank they are doing the same thing palastinians are doing. And i know the argument of the fact that these palastinian fighters are among the civilians so its their fault isreal has to bomb civilian communities. yeah i think thats bogus. The fighters live with civilians because they are not allowed military organization. I guarentee if we allowed Palastine to raise and house an army, then all those people who do the wickedness will not be living in civilian sectors, but again palastine cant organize a military so their fighters are civilians…so do we allow palastine to form a military or militia, or do we continue to reason the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians.
The isreali-palastinian conflict will not be solved in our lifetime, or our childrens or their childrens. this conflict has been going on for thousands of years and its quite arrogant of us as a nation to assume we can fix the embedded hatred between these two cultures. I think america is better off pulling its interest out of isreal and letting them duke it out once and for all.
Also, why is it that palastine has elections and its own parliment but cannot create its own army? hmmm sounds to me that isreal only gave them a parliment in hopes to make them think their independence is comming, when in fact its not.
Take this into account about palastinians feeling that they have to attack civilians. Every day isreali civilians die, but once the military is involved then isreal fights back 100x more. Apparently isreal cares only about military casualties and uses their civilian casualties for world sympathy and support. That is sad my friends, that is sad
In conclusion: Hundreds of innocent people die on both sides of the fight. the west accept’s the palastinian casualties because of some really really sad reasoning and the west (and i) condem palastine for targeting civilians with no effort to attack military. but hey, its not our fight, it will never be our fight, so stop trying to influence. Palastine is not some radicle islamic nation who wants to spread islam across the world, thats iran. And if isreal wanted the problem fixed, all they would have to do is ship out all palastinians from isreal boarders, hell they control their country right? i mean if you move the palastinians fromt he vecinity of jeruselum, dont you think they wont attack as much?
consider this all random babbling of the mouth
always a student,
randal
randal,
You seem to vacillate between supporting the concept of international law (applying it against Israel in labelling its actions as terrorism) and then abandoning that principle when you advocate that “to the victor goes the spoils” (where you state that the Palestinians were the legitimate settlers of the region because they had won it fair and square through warfare).
And, you ignore that the 1947 UN mandate was for a two state solution, but instead of working to organize a government for their people, the Palestinians chose to reject this solution and immediately declared war on Israel. They’ve focused on this fight ever since, neglecting the welfare of their people.
Same old taqiyya, what is new?
haha, thats right i forgot the complete foolishness of the 1947 mandate. Oh yeah its wasnt naive to assume that two cultures, whose been at eatchothers throats for centuries, can come together with the drop of a dime and form a peace. also that mandate GAVE jeruselum to the isreali nation. thats like again the UN mandating that a two nation policy be enacted here in the states where indians get a country and we keep the rest, oh by the way Washington D.C goes to the indians because they have greater heritage value in that land.
I didnt ignore the 1947 mandate for two nations stanely, i just didnt put it down because its hopeless to strive for that.
And yes i advocate for one or the other. Either isreal be treated with the same contempt we treat the palastinians for killing civilians, or we stop caring about both and let them duke it out. I dont care which happens, but slapping the wrist of one kid for doing something then making up bogus excuses for the other kid is wrong. So either both are wrong, or both need to be left to do what they are doing.
always a student,
randal
Again, you’re not being fair to both sides.
First, it is simply a myth that all Palestinians reject a two state solution. There has been broad support for peaceful co-existance with Israel.
There has also been broad support for on the Israeli side for peaceful co-existance with Palestine, but the official Israeli government position has been rejection of a fair two state solution. Instead they continue to shrink the occupied territories and continue the violence.
chris,
I wouldn’t doubt that the average Palestinian does want a peaceful two state solution, but they elected a party which refuses to accept it. I believe they probably chose Hamas because they believed it was less corrupt than the status quo, but nonetheless, they did not choose representatives who would seek a peace process.
What is your rationale for that statement?
“What is your rationale for that statement?”
It’s simple. The only people with the real power to give the Palestinians a state are the Israelis. If the Israelis wanted Palestine to have a state, they would have one. They do not, hence they oppose it.
There are many examples of Israel’s official rejection of a Palestinian state. Here is a relatively recent (2002) instance:
Likud opts to reject forever creation of state for Palestinians
chris,
The Israelis, whatever their motivation, withdrew from Gaza. What was their reward? Gaza being used as a base for increased missile attacks. I feel little sympathy for a Palestinian public so foolish as to believe that the outcome of electing a Hamas government would be anything other than what it has been. This article is a joke coming from anyone who believes in the founding charter of Hamas.
OTOH, the settler movement and their disproportionate political power is a disaster for the concept of a two state solution. Until there is such an overwhelming rejection of them by the Israeli voting public that the willpower is there for virtually all of the settlements to be dismantled to make room for a real Palestinian state there is no chance for peace.
In other words, between the two parties I do not expect to see peace between them in my lifetime.
Not to put too fine a point on it, you could say exactly the same about the rhetoric at LGF and similar sites, including most of right wing talk radio. I think it is a fair reaquest to both groups – stop fomenting violence and hatred, it only makes things worse.
But, to see that much about the dialog here in the US would require a degree of self examination of which few on the extreme right are capable.
There is as much jihad language here in the US as there is among the PLO.
Jake
Jim S,
The Gaza withdrawal is almost always brought up as as an excuse for continued terror directed against the Palestinian people.
Did you know that as Israel withdrew their illegal settlements from Gaza they were expanding their illegal settlements on the West Bank? The Israelis took valuable land with access to water from the Palestinians.
And while they may have removed their illegal settlements from Gaza, their military still operates in Gaza with impunity.
Fine example of moral equivalence from a leftist.
chris,
First, you obviously didn’t read my whole post. Secondly, read your post again and then read your earlier posts about not being fair to both groups. They move into Gaza because of the attacks constantly coming from there. Talk about not being fair to both sides. Nowhere in your post did you mention the missiles being fired from there. Not. Once.
Jim S,
I read your entire post, I just wanted to point out that the widthdrawal from Gaza was not a great concession by the Israelis. They gave up crappy land there and took better land on the West Bank at the same time.
Now, as for the missiles. I’ve stated in my earlier posts that both the Israelis and the Palestinians are engaged in acts of terrorism. This includes the Gaza missiles and the Israeli army that is stationed inside of Israeli territory.
I assume you’re saying it’s okay that Israel is attacking Gaza because of the missile strikes. So does that mean it is okay for the Palestinians to attack Israeli territory where their army resides? Or are you again applying a different standard?
Where their army resides? Palestinian rockets are almost always aimed at civilian targets. Then they hide among the civilian population. Israel has these strange things called military bases. While you make a minor nod to the activities on both sides every specific criticism you’ve made has been limited to the Israeli side.
Jim S,
When did I say the Palestinian’s weren’t targeting civilians? I thought that was implied when I said they were engaged in terrorism.
And they don’t hide among the civilian population, they are part of it. They don’t have a formal state and they are not allowed to have a formal army. What other recourse do they have?
It may seem I’m being more harsh towards Israel and I don’t think that’s unfair.
Israel has more weapons, more money, better technology (largely supplied by the U.S.). In other words, they have the real power.
“You can hardly blame the starving, impoverished Palestinian population for resorting to violence.”
Poverty and impoverishment does not cause terror. In fact, in the poorest countries on the planet there is relatively little terrorism. The root of terrorism is ideological in nature, not political.
http://www.policyreview.org/aug04/laqueur.html
The Terrorism to Come
By Walter Laqueur
“Thirty years ago, when the terrorism debate got underway, it was widely asserted that terrorism was basically a left-wing revolutionary movement caused by oppression and exploitation. Hence the conclusion: Find a political and social solution, remedy the underlying evil — no oppression, no terrorism. The argument about the left-wing character of terrorism is no longer frequently heard, but the belief in a fatal link between poverty and violence has persisted. Whenever a major terrorist attack has taken place, one has heard appeals from high and low to provide credits and loans, to deal at long last with the deeper, true causes of terrorism, the roots rather than the symptoms and outward manifestations. And these roots are believed to be poverty, unemployment, backwardness, and inequality.
It is not too difficult to examine whether there is such a correlation between poverty and terrorism, and all the investigations have shown that this is not the case. The experts have maintained for a long time that poverty does not cause terrorism and prosperity does not cure it. In the world’s 50 poorest countries there is little or no terrorism. A study by scholars Alan Krueger and Jitka Maleckova reached the conclusion that the terrorists are not poor people and do not come from poor societies. A Harvard economist has shown that economic growth is closely related to a society’s ability to manage conflicts. More recently, a study of India has demonstrated that terrorism in the subcontinent has occurred in the most prosperous (Punjab) and most egalitarian (Kashmir, with a poverty ratio of 3.5 compared with the national average of 26 percent) regions and that, on the other hand, the poorest regions such as North Bihar have been free of terrorism. In the Arab countries (such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but also in North Africa), the terrorists originated not in the poorest and most neglected districts but hailed from places with concentrations of radical preachers. The backwardness, if any, was intellectual and cultural — not economic and social.”
Link to study referenced above:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=319750
Education, Poverty, Political Violence and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?
ALAN B. KRUEGER
Princeton University – Industrial Relations Section; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
JITKA MALECKOVA
Charles University, Prague – Institute for Near Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:
The paper investigates whether there is a causal link between poverty or low education and participation in politically motivated violence and terrorist activities. After presenting a discussion of theoretical issues, we review evidence on the determinants of hate crimes. This literature finds that the occurrence of hate crimes is largely independent of economic conditions. Next we analyze data on support for attacks against Israeli targets from public opinion polls conducted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These polls indicate that support for violent attacks does not decrease among those with higher education and higher living standards. The core contribution of the paper is a statistical analysis of the determinants of participation in Hezbollah militant activities in Lebanon. The evidence we have assembled suggests that having a living standard above the poverty line or a secondary school or higher education is positively associated with participation in Hezbollah. We also find that Israeli Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank in the early 1980s were overwhelmingly from high-paying occupations. The conclusion speculates on why economic conditions and education are largely unrelated to participation in, and support for, terrorism.
You’re right, poverty does not cause terrorism. My point was that Palestinians have litle power to change their own destinies with regard to their relationship with Israel.
Now, if you take a look at suicide bombings in particular you’ll find that in a vast majority of cases they are as a result of foreign occupation:
The Logic of Suicide Terrorism
chris,
What would you consider an acceptable approach on the part of Israel? What could they do that would make you think that continued terrorist attacks on the part of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the rest would be completely unjustified?
Nice trick, but I don’t think terrorist attacks are ever justifiable. That includes attacks on the civilian population of both Israel and Palestine.
Both sides have many crimes to answer for.
But we can’t ignore the very valid grievances of the Palestinians just because some of them engage in terrorist activities.
If Israel is unwilling to allow the creation of a *viable* and independent Palestinian state, then they should absorb the Palestinian territories and their people into Israel. Not to mention tearing down that horrendous wall, stopping the military incursions and releasing the thousands of Palestinians that are being held without trial.