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Last update - 16:03 17/12/2007
Hamas - If we can kill them, we can talk to them
By Bradley Burston, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel, Hamas, peace process 

Call their bluff.

Hamas this week inched one notch further toward some form of accommodation with a reality it cannot bring itself to stomach. Israel should do no less.

In an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Ahmed Youssef, senior political advisor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, wrote at the weekend that the Bush administration cannot at once "preach about exporting democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan and ignore the democratic process in Palestine."

"Many people make the mistake of presuming that we have some ideological aversion to making peace," continued Youssef. "Quite the opposite; we have consistently offered dialogue with the U.S. and the E.U. to try and resolve the very issues that you are trying to deal with in Annapolis."

Youssef, you may remember, wrote in a New York Times article a year ago that "Hamas proposes a long-term truce during which the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can try to negotiate a lasting peace."

There is little doubt that Hamas is under mounting and unprecedented pressure. A half year after a civil war with Fatah undermined bedrock assumptions of Palestinian society and its belief in a unified Palestinian people, Gazans are beginning to blame Hamas for an unlivable reality in the Strip.

In fact, there is a war going on within Hamas at present. The armed wing and political hardliners like Mahmoud Zahar have been in ascendancy of late. Pressure for escalation against Israel as mounted, as air strike after airstrike has killed Hamas gunmen and mortar crews in the field.

At the same time, relative moderates like Youssef and ex-Haniyeh spokesman Ghazi Hamad - who has criticized Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza and called for negotiations with Israel - have been pressured and silenced by the hardliners.

All in all, a grim trend. Some Israelis have taken a cruel comfort in the knowledge that the disaster-area state of the Palestinian economy is, to some extent, turning the population against Hamas. It is not, however, turning anyone in Gaza toward a changed opinion of Israel.

If Israel's goal is to eradicate Hamas, it can forget it. Hamas, and the religious-political ideology it spearheads, is a fact in Palestinian society, not some pest that can be eradicated with the application of force, however overwhelming.

Hamas is stricken, but it is not about to crumble. With its strongest founding leaders dead at the hands of Israeli aircraft, the movement is engaged in an internal upheaval the likes of which it has never experienced.

We can affect that process. Until now, our sole effect, after 20 years of determined work, is to fortify Hamas, to play into its hands, to keep it strong and help it get stronger.

It is time for Israel to try something new. Something that requires more courage than long-distance assassination and the obsessive use of the word no.

As we have seen with our once-arch enemy Egypt, and our longtime enemy Syria, if you can kill them, you can talk with them.

In a September opinion piece published in Haaretz, Youssef wrote, "Allowing Hamas to participate in the Palestinian political process will encourage the growth and development of pragmatic ideas and instruments of political action. It will also allow tolerance and respect for pluralism and diversity to strike root in Palestinian political culture.

"The West should ask itself whether it wants the moderation and realism of Hamas or the dogmatism of radical groups that subscribe to the clash of civilizations theory."

To Western ears, to Jewish ears, Youssef's words may sound mendacious, the notion of engaging Hamas in any sense, insane.

But organizations change over time. At this point, the Likud has done more for the cause of Palestinian nationhood than many Palestinian nationalists. At this point, senior officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization are among the most moderate and pragmatic Arab voices pushing for an eventual two-state solution.

There is no reason for Israel, at this point, to trust Hamas. Nor is there any good reason for Hamas to trust Israel. But this is the Middle East, where elaborate bargaining mechanisms have evolved over thousands of years specifically to meet the needs of parties which cannot stomach one another, nor trust them as far as they can throw them.

Hamas is wounded, but it is not going anywhere. At the outset of the intifada, there were many in the radical Palestinian camp who believed that if Israel were wounded, it would simply fold and go away. It is not going anywhere either.

We've tried everything we had to eliminate them. They've done everything they could to return the favor. They've gone so far as to send us human bombs, which, in the end, damaged their own cause. There are those among us who say that only a massive invasion of Gaza can stop the Qassams. Many of these are the same people who yearn for a return to settlements in Gaza.

Either way, they can forget it. The Qassams will continue unless and until we engage Hamas in talks over a cease-fire, the first step in a process that may take generations - mutual recognition of Israel and Palestine.

The Palestinians are coming to realize that they have destroyed their own national movement in a way that Israel could only dream of doing. The voices in Hamas that call for moderation are an indication not that Hamas people are liars, but that they are searching for a way out of a trap they themselves never anticipated. Hamas was not prepared for governance any more than Palestine was ready for independence.

This is the Middle East, where Israelis are taught from a tender age this advice regarding potential adversaries: "Respect them, but suspect them." In the case of Hamas, the time has come to reverse the admonition. Suspicion is the default setting. Respect is what is lacking. Suspect them, yes, but respect them.

It requires courage to explore this opportunity, a supreme act of bravery in Israel - the courage to explore the fearsome possibility of a change of course.

______________


Previous blogs:

Self Test: Are you a fanatic on the Middle East?
People who hate the very idea of peace
Nine reasons Annapolis will succeed
A kinship of genocide
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Back on the horse
N.Y. Times reports Syria is rebuilding the alleged nuclear site bombed by the IAF.
'Stunt gone awry'
German Jews are enraged as a group likens a smoking ban to Nazi rule.
  1.   SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL FOR HAMAS 13:52  |  Alon normali b 10/12/07
  2.   Hamas Was Already Part Of The Process And Blew It 14:16  |  dyinglikeflies 10/12/07
  3.   They`re saying the pressure is getting to them 14:32  |  Israeli 10/12/07
  4.   Hallelu Yah! Mode Ani Adonai. This is what is to be expected when 14:36  |  Virginia 10/12/07
  5.   I you can kill them you can talk to them.... 14:41  |  Ofer Maimon 10/12/07
  6.   Talking to Hamas 14:55  |  Gunnr Heinsohn 10/12/07
  7.   An article long in details & short in correct conclusions. 15:01  |  Akram Zekaria 10/12/07
  8.   Even a congenital idiot.... 15:05  |  Don Camillo 10/12/07
  9.   Bradley - logic 0 - 1 15:05  |  Swiss (Dino) 10/12/07
  10.   Talking to Hamas = betrayal of moderate palestinians 15:14  |  Scientist 10/12/07
  11.   #8 camillo cracks ajoke! which ones are the friends? 15:29  |  victor hardman 10/12/07
  12.   Hamas 15:38  |  ruti 10/12/07
  13.   SORRY BRADLEY 15:39  |  indrajaya 10/12/07
  14.   Fatah vs. Hamas 15:40  |  Sam 10/12/07
  15.   indrajaya, I have to agree with your logic. Let`s keep praying. 15:58  |  Virginia 10/12/07
  16.   I thank Haaretz to print my post 7# may I add 16:00  |  Akram Zekaria 10/12/07
  17.   brainwash the same BS to Americans vis a vis Al Qaida 16:04  |  Joseph E . 10/12/07
  18.   Burstons have alwaysadvocated negotiating with Hitler and Pol Pot 16:12  |  Absolute Sweden 10/12/07
  19.   Well said Sam # 14 16:14  |  Joseph 10/12/07
  20.   I`ll make "peace" with you 16:16  |  Joseph E . 10/12/07
  21.   Bradley,nice sentiments but have you seen the latest reports?The 16:35  |  lakshmi 10/12/07
  22.   Bradley 16:44  |  Yosemite 10/12/07
  23.   The basic error in the Rice-Olmert approach 16:48  |  Tosefta 10/12/07
  24.   In praise of Hamas (for evolution-challenged people) 16:49  |  Tosefta 10/12/07
  25.   i totally agree with transfer as the only solution 16:50  |  realist 10/12/07
  26.   Lakshmi 16:56  |  Lisa 10/12/07
  27.   Hamas must split 17:16  |  dea 10/12/07
  28.   Tosefta, everthing you have written is a lie 17:19  |  McQueen 10/12/07
  29.   #10 scientist ...I agree..... 17:52  |  Lynn 10/12/07
  30.   Joseph E. # 17 17:52  |  Janet 10/12/07
  31.   IF YOU CAN`T KILL, WHY DON`T TALK 17:55  |  indrajaya 10/12/07
  32.   McQueen Tosefta, like Hamas, never evolves 18:12  |  Jasmine Murphy 10/12/07
  33.   Lynn #29 you said all that needs to be said! 18:13  |  S 10/12/07
  34.   Hamas 18:16  |  Franklin 10/12/07
  35.   Lies, and the lying liars who claim them (McQueen #28) 18:21  |  Tosefta 10/12/07
  36.   Bradley`s shuffling of the situation 18:24  |  peter 10/12/07
  37.   Jasmine Thinklittle and evolution #32 18:31  |  Tosefta 10/12/07
  38.   hamas on the ropes 18:32  |  peter 10/12/07
  39.   # 22, YOSEMITE 18:33  |  indrajaya 10/12/07
  40.   Par for the Course - More Burston Silliness 18:33  |  Tod Zuckerman 10/12/07
  41.   Tosefta 18:37  |  Walid 10/12/07
  42.   #2 It takes two 18:42  |  Michael II 10/12/07
  43.   Tosefta 18:44  |  Patricia 10/12/07
  44.   Post my Response for once 18:47  |  Axelrod 10/12/07
  45.   Hey Tosefta- that`s not how evolution works!! 18:52  |  Voice of Reason 10/12/07
  46.   Tosefta 18:53  |  Patricia 10/12/07
  47.   Tosefta`s solution to impasse: insult insult and insist 18:54  |  Jasmine Murphy 10/12/07
  48.   Only An Act of Faith Can Open This Door 18:58  |  Reader 10/12/07
  49.   No 17 Joseph 19:00  |  Mary 10/12/07
  50.   OK Bradley you talk to them, and 19:03  |  Miriam Ashkelon 10/12/07
  51.   Every time I think Israeli media cannot get more idiotic... 19:05  |  Terry 10/12/07
  52.   Respect Murderers and fiends? 19:10  |  Aryeah245 10/12/07
  53.   Ofer Maimon, That`s Not Quite the Spirit of the Thing 19:13  |  Reader 10/12/07
  54.   Gunnr Heinsohn`s Error of Logic 19:17  |  Reader 10/12/07
  55.   Indrajaya 19:17  |  Yosemite 10/12/07
  56.   # 41 Walid.....Hello 19:19  |  Lynn 10/12/07
  57.   26Lisa,not really,they are biding their time,they are not 19:42  |  lakshmi 10/12/07
  58.   Deniers (McQueen, Patricia, Peter the Great, Jasmine Thinklittle) 19:45  |  Tosefta 10/12/07
  59.   # 30 Janet / Canada 19:48  |  Joseph E . 10/12/07
  60.   #13 Lucky for some!! Indy 19:49  |  Joe Moer 10/12/07
  61.   ruti, the cost of doing business 19:50  |  Reader 10/12/07
  62.   Bradley - Taking it too far 19:53  |  ScotGuy 10/12/07
  63.   Olmert`s priorities (Walid #41) 19:54  |  Tosefta 10/12/07
  64.   All posters Compare #13 & #31 19:55  |  Joe Moer 10/12/07
  65.   Tosefta 19:59  |  Patricia 10/12/07
  66.   Tosefa 20:07  |  Patricia 10/12/07
  67.   Why are leftists so obsessed with talking to the Arab enemy? 20:08  |  ExpelThemAll 10/12/07
  68.   Negotiation with Hamas 20:12  |  BML 10/12/07
  69.   Peter, the Shoe WAS on the Other Foot 20:26  |  Reader