CLEARLY, no matter which way events turn in the Middle East, relations between Palestinians and Israelis always head toward violence.
It seems as if there is no escape from the cycle of violence and the hopelessness that worsens Palestinian suffering the longer Israeli occupation endures, while continuing to expose Israelis to a nation that is perennially looking over their shoulders.
If there is hope, it will have to come from a new way of looking at the conflict. That means Arabs must truly re-evaluate how they approach Israel. More importantly, because Israel is the driving power in this relationship, Israelis have to reassess the Palestinians and Hamas.
Can they each do that though?
As a Palestinian, I have always opposed Hamas, mainly because Hamas has violated two principles that I believe are sacred. They have engaged in violence for the sake of violence. Vengeance is not a strategy for nation building but a fuel that feeds emotion.
The strategy of suicide bombings that Hamas initiated in 1994 has proven to not be a strategy at all, but an option that has single-handedly helped to undermine world support for the Palestinian cause.
But the second issue is just as important to me as someone who supports peace through non-violence. During the entire peace process signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Hamas played the role of obstructionist.
Hamas used suicide bombings not only to avenge Israeli military terrorism against innocent Palestinians, but they also used suicide missions against innocent Israeli civilians as a means of derailing the peace process itself.
I refused to believe that Hamas, after spending its entire existence opposing the PLO decision to recognize Israel and embrace the land for peace formula, that they would suddenly, now in power, continue with the PLO’s failed peace strategy.
Did they oppose peace with Israel only because they were not in control of the Palestinian government?
That would seem too selfish. Clearly, the opposition to Israel has more to do with religious faith, which is uncompromising, than with accepting the inevitable that Israel exists and cannot be defeated. That would require more common sense than Hamas has shown in the past.
Yet, has Hamas changed now that it has control of the Palestinian government? Can Hamas really change?
Regardless of the answer, those who support genuine peace must give Hamas a chance to change. We cannot expect someone to change in the face of assault.
I have read Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s public statements. He is a very clever person. But Haniyeh may be for the Palestinians what Menachem Begin, a former terrorist turned Israeli prime minister, was for the Israelis.
Israelis often point out that it took an Israeli leader who was perceived as uncompromising to be able to compromise with the Arabs.
Is Haniyeh like Begin, a tough Palestinian leader who may be the only person who can cut a deal with Israel that the Palestinians will support?
The perpetrators of the most recent suicide bombing was Islamic Jihad, with the support of other small splinter groups. It was not sanctioned nor was it ordered by Hamas.
That Hamas stopped short of condemning the violence is irrelevant and should not weigh into Israel’s response.
So far, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has decided not to retaliate against the Hamas-controlled Palestinian National Authority. It’s a wise move and leaves the door open to resolving the conflict rather than continuing to fan the conflict’s flames.
In the past, Israeli policy has been one of “collective punishment.” The Israelis punish all Palestinians, regardless of whether they were directly or indirectly responsible for acts of violence.
Israelis punish the relatives, neighbors and friends of suicide bombing, only serving to push Palestinian public opinion more and more in favor of continued acts of revenge violence against Israel.
The Israelis did the same thing during the peace process of the 1990s. When Hamas would attack Israel, Israel would punish Arafat and his government, undermining any chance Arafat had of convincing his people that negotiating a peace that is fair and just with Israel could be possible.
Israel has the upper hand in this conflict. The Palestinians live under Israeli occupation, not the other way around.
Israel can add more fuel to the fire, or Israel can use its power wisely, seeking to push Palestinians to a negotiated settlement while offering a just and fair settlement offer.
That’s hard to do in the environment of conflict that exists today, especially as Israelis seem to be hardening against land-for-peace concessions to the Palestinians.
Give Hamas a chance. Give the Palestinian people a chance.
Rather than augmenting the violence by responding to violence with violence, Israel must show restraint and invest in the costly price that peace demands.
What we don’t need is more violence. What we need is another Israeli leader like Rabin who has the courage to make peace with his enemy, the Palestinians.
— Ray Hanania is an award winning Palestinian-American syndicated columnist and author. He can be reached at www.hanania.com.
