Written
January 27, 2009
NOTE: Out of respect for the University of Toronto's
Professor's privacy, his name has been removed from this
online version. His name appears in the print that will be
published. This version also has citations unlike other
articles because the Professor questioned my 'facts'
(citing no evidence though). Verify them for yourself.
In
Professor --------- response to me in the Medium
(article will be posted here soon), he made the argument
that I was simplifying the Palestine-Israel conflict
citing only what I said about Hamas’s recognition of
U.N. Resolution 242. Ironically, he simplifies by
completely passing over 242 as if somehow Hamas is the
only one pushing for the pre-1967 borders which calls
for: complete withdrawal from Gaza, West Bank and East
Jerusalem. This includes settling the “Right of Return”
of Palestinians to their homes or in the environs of
their homes (if they choose not to, receive
compensation) and the illegal settlements issue. This
has been the consensus of the entire world with only the
U.S. and Israel voting against it for over 30 years, in
virtual isolation. [1] This is all on the U.N. website.
There is no Israeli party that agrees politically and
geographically with the international consensus. There
is plenty of talk regarding a ‘Palestinian state’ by
Israel but it is their own version which is not even
close to 242. There is no map that exists of their
concept for a reason: it comprises of cantons of
Palestinian lands where Israeli borders, roads and
checkpoints cut across them. That means Israel retains
control of everything.
Hamas’s refusal to ideologically recognize Israel is
rooted in the fact that they believe its creation is
illegitimate in the first place. This fact is not alien
to the founders of Israel. ‘There is no example in
history’, Ben-Guiron stated framing the root
problem, ‘that a nation opens the gates of its
country, not because of necessity … but because the
nation which wants to come in has explained its desire
to it.’ [2] Former Israeli Foreign Minister and
historian Schlomo Ben Ami argues that ethnic cleansing
was part of the Zionist program. [3]
The
dilemma that is facing apologists for Israeli atrocities
is clear: here is an ‘extremist’ group recognizing the
international consensus in substance (politically and
geographically) while Israel pays lip service to a ‘two
state’ that is not even remotely close to the
international consensus.
Professor ----- can question Hamas’s sincerity all he
wants but if Israel really wants to test if they are
serious or not, there is a very easy way of doing so:
take them to the negotiating table. They will not even
do that. He may think the Hamas Charter is a hindrance
but Israel is cognizant that it is not:
"[T]he
Hamas leadership has recognized that its ideological
goal is not attainable and will not be in the
foreseeable future," a former Mossad head recently
observed. "[T]hey are ready and willing to see the
establishment of a Palestinian state in the temporary
borders of 1967....They know that the moment a
Palestinian state is established with their cooperation,
they will be obligated to change the rules of the game:
They will have to adopt a path that could lead them far
from their original ideological goals." (“What Hamas
Wants,” Mideast Mirror – 12/22/08)
Amos Elon, an Israeli commentator, wrote ten years after
Sadat’s acceptance of the pre-1967 borders that Sadat
caused “panic” amongst the Israeli leadership when he
announced that he wanted a peace agreement by respecting
secure and recognized borders. [4] Since January 1976,
all resolutions have been supported by nearly every
single major Arab state, the PLO, Europe, the rest of
the world and now Hamas. In 1987, the U.S. and Israel
even barred a resolution condemning “terrorism wherever
and by whomever committed”, taking hypocrisy to
extraordinary levels, for obvious reasons. [5]
The
people of Gaza are being punished for democratically
voting Hamas in. During the apartheid days in South
Africa, the ANC and Mandela were declared as terrorists
by the U.S. They did commit terror but they were
eventually taken to the negotiating table. PLO was
considered terrorist too but Israel negotiated with
them.
Everyone wants peace, Hitler wanted peace, but on what
terms? Clearly, the relevant framework is not what
Israel wants – in complete defiance of international law
and the world consensus – but what Palestinians are
legally entitled to.
For
a more detailed response, please read
"We
Are All Anti-Semites: Security, Self-Defense &
Questioning Casualties".
In the spirit of resistance,
Critical Mood
See resolutions:
242,
338,
446,
799,
1322 and so on.
(As cited in Finkelstein's 'Image &
Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict' - Zeev Sternhell,
The Founding Myths of Israel (Princeton: 1998), pp.
43-4. Benny Morris, Righteous Victims (New York:
1999), p. 91 (Shertok). Simha Flapan, Zionism and the
Palestinians (London: 1979), p. 143 (Ben-Guiron).)
In his book, Ben-Ami states: "In
that operation, in the words of one of the Israeli
soldiers, as quoted by Benny Morris, whose thesis about
the birth of the refugee problem being not by design, but
by the natural logic and evolution of the war is not
always sustained by the very evidence he himself provides,
'cultured officers ... had turned into base murderers and
this not in the heat of battle ... but out of a system of
expulsion and destruction: the less Arabs remained, the
betters; this principle is the political motor for the
expulsions and the atrocities'.
... Aharon Cohen, the director of Mapam's Arab Department,
confessed to being 'ashamed and afraid' at the 'deliberate
eviction' of the Arabs. In July 1948 his leader, Yaacov
Hazan, warned that 'the robbery, killing, expulsion and
rape of teh Arabs could reach such proportions that we
would no longer be able to stand'. And another member of
the party, Aharon Zisling, even exclaimed in November 1948
that 'Jews too have committed Nazi acts'." (Ben-Ami,
Scars of War, p. 42-43)
[4] (As cited in Chomsky's
'Middle East Illusions' - Amos Elon,
Ha'aretz, Nov. 13, 1981.)
[5] UN
press release GA/7603, Dec. 7, 1987 (42/159).
