Monday, April 17, 2006
Rhetoric and Deed
How can a suicide bombing be an act of self defense? An official Hamas spokesman described a terrorist suicide bombing as an “act of self-defense” against Israeli occupation. Bombing innocent civilians, no matter what the circumstances is still offensive in both senses of the word.
No matter what you think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, killing innocent civilians can never be the policy of a legitimate government. I was hoping Hamas would ease towards the political center as it accrued actual governmental responsibilities. They’ve made some progress – implicitly recognizing Israel and asking for a two-state solution – but this one statement is a gigantic leap backwards.
President Abbas, of the Fatah party, condemned the attack imploring Palestinians to “abide by the cessation of violence,” but his party is no longer in power. How can Hamas flail its arms calling international sanctions blackmail and screaming at the world for the injustices they feel and then turn around and quietly condone terrorist bombings. Before the world can bring itself to recognize Hamas and the Palestinians as a legitimate, fully-functioning government, Hamas themselves must learn to act like one.
I remain hopeful that the burden of running a country will weigh heavily on the radical wing of the Hamas party – that eventually, political tides will erode Hamas’ extremist factions in favor of a passionate, but civil (also in both sense of the word) government. It hasn’t happened yet.
No matter what you think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, killing innocent civilians can never be the policy of a legitimate government. I was hoping Hamas would ease towards the political center as it accrued actual governmental responsibilities. They’ve made some progress – implicitly recognizing Israel and asking for a two-state solution – but this one statement is a gigantic leap backwards.
President Abbas, of the Fatah party, condemned the attack imploring Palestinians to “abide by the cessation of violence,” but his party is no longer in power. How can Hamas flail its arms calling international sanctions blackmail and screaming at the world for the injustices they feel and then turn around and quietly condone terrorist bombings. Before the world can bring itself to recognize Hamas and the Palestinians as a legitimate, fully-functioning government, Hamas themselves must learn to act like one.
I remain hopeful that the burden of running a country will weigh heavily on the radical wing of the Hamas party – that eventually, political tides will erode Hamas’ extremist factions in favor of a passionate, but civil (also in both sense of the word) government. It hasn’t happened yet.
