Comments on: In which we educate Tony Blair on why he cannot deal with Hamas http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777 Cutting straight to the point Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:56:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Ben F http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777/comment-page-1#comment-24900 Ben F Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:38:34 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777#comment-24900 That's the problem, Meryl. There is no metric by which HAMAS is terrorist but FATAH isn't. So long as the world keeps dealing with FATAH, it will, inevitably, begin dealing with HAMAS as well, because HAMAS has become more popular than FATAH among the Palestinian Arabs, and frankly I don't see that changing any time soon. That's why the necessary meme isn't HAMAS is terrorist; it's HAMAS = FATAH = terrorist. That’s the problem, Meryl. There is no metric by which HAMAS is terrorist but FATAH isn’t. So long as the world keeps dealing with FATAH, it will, inevitably, begin dealing with HAMAS as well, because HAMAS has become more popular than FATAH among the Palestinian Arabs, and frankly I don’t see that changing any time soon.

That’s why the necessary meme isn’t HAMAS is terrorist; it’s HAMAS = FATAH = terrorist.

]]> By: Meryl Yourish http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777/comment-page-1#comment-24886 Meryl Yourish Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:19:47 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777#comment-24886 Now there's a realistic suggestion. Because, sure, that's going to happen. The world is just going to wake up one day and say, "Shit! You mean Fatah is a terrorist organization too? Who knew?" And then we'll all sit down with fluffy bunnies and kitties and live happily ever after. Now there’s a realistic suggestion. Because, sure, that’s going to happen. The world is just going to wake up one day and say, “Shit! You mean Fatah is a terrorist organization too? Who knew?”

And then we’ll all sit down with fluffy bunnies and kitties and live happily ever after.

]]> By: Ben F http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777/comment-page-1#comment-24885 Ben F Fri, 23 Feb 2007 04:41:16 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777#comment-24885 Oh, I almost forgot the American position that no political faction may have its own militia, <em>except for FATAH</em>. And, oh yeah, the American's exclusion of Israel from coalition forces in both Gulf wars, deferring to genocidal Arab sensibilities and thereby ratifying Israel's pariah status in the region. We have no principles when it comes to dealing with Israel, and the Arabs know it, and they exploit it in myriad ways. Oh, I almost forgot the American position that no political faction may have its own militia, except for FATAH. And, oh yeah, the American’s exclusion of Israel from coalition forces in both Gulf wars, deferring to genocidal Arab sensibilities and thereby ratifying Israel’s pariah status in the region.

We have no principles when it comes to dealing with Israel, and the Arabs know it, and they exploit it in myriad ways.

]]> By: Ben F http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777/comment-page-1#comment-24884 Ben F Fri, 23 Feb 2007 04:31:56 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/02/22/2777#comment-24884 Good grief, Meryl, what difference does it make if Britain, or we, deal with a unity government that includes HAMAS? We're already dealing with terrorists; the notion that Abbas is a moderate is farcical. Read the FATAH constitution, which has never been amended or disavowed, focusing on <a href="http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm#The%20Movement's%20Essential" rel="nofollow">essential principles</a>, <a href="http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm#Goals" rel="nofollow">goals</a>, and <a href="http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm#Method" rel="nofollow">method</a>. The only substantive difference between FATAH and HAMAS <em>was</em> that FATAH's objectives were framed in Arab nationalist terms whereas HAMAS's are framed in Islamic terms. However, just as was the case with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1990s, FATAH is becoming more overtly Islamic to keep up with the times. The problem isn't HAMAS; it's the peace process. The peace process requires one to deal with whomever is in charge on the Palestinian Arab side, which in turn necessitates not merely ignoring, but misrepresenting, that side's actual goals. Such as ignoring Arafat's role in the murder of American diplomats until after Arafat's death, or pretending that the Palestinian Arabs' national goals are the establishment of an independent state alongside Israel, when they really are to destroy Israel, or pretending that the popular vote for HAMAS was simply a rejection of FATAH corruption and not an endorsement of jihad. The way forward is not to isolate HAMAS, but to treat both HAMAS and FATAH as the terrorists that they are. Good grief, Meryl, what difference does it make if Britain, or we, deal with a unity government that includes HAMAS? We’re already dealing with terrorists; the notion that Abbas is a moderate is farcical. Read the FATAH constitution, which has never been amended or disavowed, focusing on essential principles, goals, and method. The only substantive difference between FATAH and HAMAS was that FATAH’s objectives were framed in Arab nationalist terms whereas HAMAS’s are framed in Islamic terms. However, just as was the case with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the 1990s, FATAH is becoming more overtly Islamic to keep up with the times.

The problem isn’t HAMAS; it’s the peace process. The peace process requires one to deal with whomever is in charge on the Palestinian Arab side, which in turn necessitates not merely ignoring, but misrepresenting, that side’s actual goals. Such as ignoring Arafat’s role in the murder of American diplomats until after Arafat’s death, or pretending that the Palestinian Arabs’ national goals are the establishment of an independent state alongside Israel, when they really are to destroy Israel, or pretending that the popular vote for HAMAS was simply a rejection of FATAH corruption and not an endorsement of jihad.

The way forward is not to isolate HAMAS, but to treat both HAMAS and FATAH as the terrorists that they are.

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