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Deja vu — Judith Apter Klinghoffer

Judith Apter Klinghoffer

"I WILL URGE MY LAST THREE SONS TO BE MARTYRS"

Thus says the mother from hell. Speaking of being willing to walk over dead bodies. She has already reached the Palestinian parliament by walking over three exploding sons. Yes, as Emanuele Ottolenghi explained so brilliantly the veils are off Hamas. But they are also off a society which not only admires such an ice mother but chooses her to serve their interests. Yes, Hamas' rise is Arafat's fault. He created this sick and dysfunctional society. He used Hamas to avoid fulfilling his commitments to Israel and in the process he undermined the moral foundation of his people.

The veils are off. Terror boomerangs. It has certainly boomeranged on his old and young supporters. Look at the shameful behavior of the young Fatah members. They respond to an election loss with "Days of Rage." Not that I blame them. Mahmood Abbas is such a spineless leader and they were stupid enough not to force his hand as they have not forced Arafat's hand. Ultimately, the people did not choose them because neither they nor their leaders have ever had the guts to make a choice.

The veils are off the useless polls taken in tyrannies. People know enough not to tell the truth. Stop quoting them.

The veils are off the Western enablers of the supporters of Palestinian terrorists. They used to be able to pretend that the Palestinian terror was not the fault of the PA. No longer. They also need to face the Palestinian people's verdict on the corrupt leadership they foisted on them. Let us not forget that the last Palestinian election took place in 1996. In 2000 Arafat decided to start another intifada rather than face the electorate. The delay cost thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives.

The veils are not yet off Hamas. Will it follow Ahmadinejad and Assad and try to foist on the Palestinians its own leaders in exile who support the axis of rejection or will it stick with the leadership it has on the ground? There are already schisms between the two with those in exile much more concerned with serving the interests of the global Jihad and much less interested in taking care of the people's needs.

Unfortunately, the clueless MSM is already elevating an outsider controlled by Damscus, Khaled Mashal. Both Wolf Blitzer and the octogenarian Mike Wallace hurried to introduce him to their audience as THE Hamas leader and the NYT quotes him and his refusal to negotiate with Israel.

But the leadership on the ground is much more circumspect. "We'll negotiate [with Israel] better than the others, who negotiated for 10 years and achieved nothing," Sheikh Mohammed Abu Tir, second on the Hamas national list for the Palestinian parliamentary election, told Haaretz. The Hamas office in Iran quickly dismissed the idea complaining that "Such efforts are aimed at affecting the election, undermining the resistance spirit and promoting compromise among Palestinians."

Today, another on the ground Hamas leader tried to find wiggle room between the charter and reality.

In an interview with Fatah-affiliated Al-Hakayik, Abu-Marzouk said, "Abu Mazen [Abbas] and Yasser Arafat negotiated with Israel and Hamas opposed it without coming into conflict with them. Hamas will deal with the results of the Oslo Accords exactly as the Arabs dealt with the borders drawn in the Middle East by British and French imperialism."

These men should not be permitted to get away with the double talk. They should be made to choose. It should not be forgotten that Hamas' behavior will have a major influence on the progress of the entire Islamist movement. The nervous jokes being text messaged around the territories reflect Palestinian unease with the possibility they they will be Talibanized. If it follows Erdogan's example, it will make more palatable the prospects of Islamist parties governing other Muslims countries. If not, the results will be not only war but also and end to progress towards democracy in the rest of the Muslim world in which their fellow Muslim brothers may do very well.

Finally, the veils are off Israeli eyes. They know they tried. They left Gaza to show their good will. The painful effort boomeranged. I cannot see anyone taking a chance on an untested mister smooth like Ehud Olmert.

Fasten your seat belts. It is going to be a bumpy ride. I pray, for I see no reason to hope, that we can avoid a real crash. Be that as it may, our conscience is clear. We have given democracy and peace every chance.

Posted on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 12:00 AM | Comments (17) | Return

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