![\"Hamas](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/credit-telegraph.jpg\")
<\/a>Hamas fight\u00aders cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded the arrival of Islam\u00adic law in Gaza in 2007. But the group, a dar\u00adling of pro\u00adgres\u00adsives, still has not suc\u00adceed\u00aded in destroy\u00ading Israel. [Cred\u00adit: Telegraph.uk]<\/p><\/div>\u201cThe time will not come until Mus\u00adlims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Mus\u00adlim! there is a Jew hid\u00ading behind me, come on and kill him!\u201d <\/em> Hamas Char\u00adter<\/a>, Arti\u00adcle VII<\/span>\n \u201c<\/span>Under\u00adstand\u00ading Hamas [and] Hezbol\u00adlah as social move\u00adments that are pro\u00adgres\u00adsive, that are on the left, that are part of a glob\u00adal left, is extreme\u00adly impor\u00adtant.\u201d<\/em> Berke\u00adley Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Judith But\u00adler<\/a><\/p>\n The war that pits Israel against the pro\u00adgres\u00adsive social move\u00adment known as Hamas has returned to dor\u00adman\u00adcy. The most recent out\u00adbreak of blood\u00adshed did not end with rocks and trees turn\u00ading Jews over to their Mus\u00adlim pur\u00adsuers for exter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion. The glob\u00adal left will have to wait for his\u00adto\u00adry to progress to that geno\u00adci\u00addal outcome.<\/p>\n The shoot\u00ading has stopped for now, giv\u00ading time to reflect on its caus\u00ades. We can begin by con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading the nature of Hamas \u2013 its moti\u00adva\u00adtions, its inten\u00adtions, how it con\u00adceives and defines itself. Until quite recent\u00adly, I\u2019d nev\u00ader heard of the Hamas Char\u00adter, much less read it. It is an ele\u00adgant\u00adly writ\u00adten man\u00adi\u00adfesto that seam\u00adless\u00adly weaves mali\u00adcious rhetoric with reli\u00adgious pro\u00adnounce\u00adments. It seethes hatred. It reeks of resent\u00adment. It is punc\u00adtu\u00adat\u00aded with rever\u00adies of vengeance.<\/p>\n West\u00adern\u00aders who chas\u00adten Israel for its sup\u00adposed intran\u00adsi\u00adgence on a \u201ctwo-state solu\u00adtion\u201d might con\u00adsid\u00ader that Hamas regards the exis\u00adtence of a Jew\u00adish state to be a vio\u00adla\u00adtion of Islam\u00adic law.<\/p>\n The Islam\u00adic Resis\u00adtance Move\u00adment [Hamas] believes that the land of Pales\u00adtine has been an Islam\u00adic Waqf through\u00adout the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions and until the Day of Res\u00adur\u00adrec\u00adtion, no one can renounce it or part of it, or aban\u00addon it or part of it\u2026Any demarche in vio\u00adla\u00adtion of this law of Islam, with regard to Pales\u00adtine, is base\u00adless and reflects on its per\u00adpe\u00adtra\u00adtors. [Arti\u00adcle XI<\/span>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Expelling the Jews from the Mid\u00addle East is a reli\u00adgious and patri\u00adot\u00adic duty.<\/p>\n Hamas regards Nation\u00adal\u00adism (Wataniyya) as part and par\u00adcel of the reli\u00adgious faith. Noth\u00ading is lofti\u00ader or deep\u00ader in Nation\u00adal\u00adism than wag\u00ading Jihad against the ene\u00admy and con\u00adfronting him when he sets foot on the land of the Mus\u00adlims. And this becomes an indi\u00advid\u00adual duty bind\u00ading on every Mus\u00adlim man and woman. [Arti\u00adcle XII<\/span>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Any talk of peace with Israel is hereti\u00adcal, nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtions a treachery.<\/p>\n [Peace] ini\u00adtia\u00adtives, the so-called peace\u00adful solu\u00adtions, and the inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal con\u00adfer\u00adences to resolve the Pales\u00adtin\u00adian prob\u00adlem, are all con\u00adtrary to the beliefs of the Islam\u00adic Resis\u00adtance Movement\u2026Those con\u00adfer\u00adences are no more than a means to appoint the non\u00adbe\u00adliev\u00aders as arbi\u00adtra\u00adtors in the lands of Islam\u2026There is no solu\u00adtion to the Pales\u00adtin\u00adian prob\u00adlem except by Jihad. [Arti\u00adcle XIII<\/span>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And yet, Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma is report\u00aded\u00adly \u201cenraged<\/a>\u201d with the Israeli gov\u00adern\u00adment after the fail\u00adure of US<\/span>-ini\u00adti\u00adat\u00aded nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtions over a two-state solu\u00adtion. That is the judg\u00adment of the President\u2019s for\u00admer Spe\u00adcial Envoy for Pales\u00adtin\u00adian-Israeli nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtions, Mar\u00adtin Indyk, who not\u00aded that the recent hos\u00adtil\u00adi\u00adties in Gaza have had a \u201cvery neg\u00ada\u00adtive impact\u201d on US<\/span>-Israeli relations.<\/p>\n Rage, as the Wall Street Journal\u2019s Bret Stephens<\/a> observed, does not typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly afflict our Pres\u00adi\u00addent. Stephens finds it odd that he reserves his rage, not for Russ\u00adian Pres\u00adi\u00addent Vladimir Putin or Hamas, whose con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adal provo\u00adca\u00adtions and acts of aggres\u00adsion brought about the most recent vio\u00adlent erup\u00adtion, but for Israel.<\/p>\n What is per\u00adhaps more sur\u00adpris\u00ading is that Amer\u00adi\u00adcans who have fol\u00adlowed main\u00adstream report\u00ading on the Mid\u00addle East in recent decades would find his rage so unsur\u00adpris\u00ading. That report\u00ading has typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded the Pales\u00adtini\u00adans as agents of progress and the Israelis as inflex\u00adi\u00adble. For\u00admer Asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded Press Mid\u00addle East cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00addent Mat\u00adti Fried\u00adman argued in a recent essay<\/a> that media cov\u00ader\u00adage has been delib\u00ader\u00adate\u00adly dis\u00adtort\u00aded to con\u00adform to the polit\u00adi\u00adcal tastes of news-gath\u00ader\u00ading organizations.<\/p>\n Many of the peo\u00adple decid\u00ading what you will read and see from [Israel] view their role not as explana\u00adto\u00adry but as polit\u00adi\u00adcal. Cov\u00ader\u00adage is a weapon to be placed at the dis\u00adpos\u00adal of the side they like.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And the side they like, accord\u00ading to Fried\u00adman, is the Pales\u00adtin\u00adian one. That pre\u00addis\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adtion not only influ\u00adences what you read but, some\u00adtimes more impor\u00adtant\u00adly, what you don\u2019t. He notes, for exam\u00adple, that when for\u00admer Israeli Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Ehud Olmert made a peace offer to the Pales\u00adtini\u00adans, AP<\/span> edi\u00adtors spiked the sto\u00adry. The deci\u00adsion, as you might expect, was not pop\u00adu\u00adlar with reporters.<\/p>\n Some staffers were furi\u00adous, but it didn\u2019t help. Our nar\u00adra\u00adtive was that the Pales\u00adtini\u00adans were mod\u00ader\u00adate and the Israelis recal\u00adci\u00adtrant and increas\u00ading\u00adly extreme. Report\u00ading the Olmert offer\u2014like delv\u00ading too deeply into the sub\u00adject of Hamas\u2014would make that nar\u00adra\u00adtive look like non\u00adsense. And so we were instruct\u00aded to ignore it, and did, for more than a year and a half.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But what is more dam\u00adag\u00ading than sup\u00adpress\u00ading par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar sto\u00adries is man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ading false nar\u00adra\u00adtives. One such nar\u00adra\u00adtive, Fried\u00adman writes, is that the Pales\u00adtini\u00adans are seek\u00ading their own state that would peace\u00adful\u00adly coex\u00adist with Israel.<\/p>\n The West has decid\u00aded that Pales\u00adtini\u00adans should want a state along\u00adside Israel, so that opin\u00adion is attrib\u00aduted to them as fact, though any\u00adone who has spent time with actu\u00adal Pales\u00adtini\u00adans under\u00adstands that things are (under\u00adstand\u00adably, in my opin\u00adion) more com\u00adpli\u00adcat\u00aded. Who they are and what they want is not impor\u00adtant: the sto\u00adry man\u00addates that they exist as pas\u00adsive vic\u00adtims of the par\u00adty that mat\u00adters [Israel].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This \u201cmoral\u00adi\u00adty play\u201d nar\u00adra\u00adtive, as Fried\u00adman describes it, requires us to believe things about Pales\u00adtini\u00adans that they do not believe about them\u00adselves. Near\u00adly 7 in 10 Gazans, accord\u00ading to a recent Pew Foun\u00adda\u00adtion poll<\/a>,<\/span> believe that a Pales\u00adtin\u00adian state can\u00adnot exist along\u00adside a Jew\u00adish one. These views are no doubt linked to a more gen\u00ader\u00adal antipa\u00adthy toward the Jews. An ear\u00adli\u00ader Pew Foun\u00adda\u00adtion poll found that 90 per\u00adcent<\/a> of peo\u00adple liv\u00ading in the Mid\u00addle East had an unfa\u00advor\u00adable opin\u00adion of Jews. We nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless choose to look past the Pales\u00adtini\u00adans\u2019 own view\u00adpoint to con\u00adstruct a dialec\u00adtic of oppres\u00adsor vs. oppressed, per\u00adpe\u00adtra\u00adtor vs. vic\u00adtim. That frame\u00adwork, Fried\u00adman argues, does not square with reality.<\/p>\n The ascen\u00addant force in our part of the world is not democ\u00adra\u00adcy or moder\u00adni\u00adty. It is rather an empow\u00adered strain of Islam that assumes dif\u00adfer\u00adent and some\u00adtimes con\u00adflict\u00ading forms, and that is will\u00ading to employ extreme vio\u00adlence in a quest to unite the region under its con\u00adtrol and con\u00adfront the West.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Jihadism has many faces: Hamas, Hezbol\u00adlah, Tal\u00adiban, al Qae\u00adda, and the Islam\u00adic State among them. For all their dif\u00adfer\u00adences, they are vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly indis\u00adtin\u00adguish\u00adable in their moti\u00adva\u00adtions, their tac\u00adtics, and their hatred of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, moder\u00adni\u00adty and West\u00adern val\u00adues. Our insis\u00adtence that the Islam\u00adic State is a man\u00adi\u00adfes\u00adta\u00adtion of jihadism that must be destroyed<\/a>,<\/span> while Hamas is a prod\u00aduct of Israeli aggres\u00adsion that must be tol\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded, twists real\u00adi\u00adty and pro\u00adduces a for\u00adeign pol\u00adi\u00adcy that is incon\u00adsis\u00adtent and unfail\u00ading\u00adly ineffective.<\/p>\n Hatred and bru\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty are not relics of an ear\u00adli\u00ader age. They are flour\u00adish\u00ading in the 21st cen\u00adtu\u00adry. His\u00adto\u00adry does not move in a straight line, much less trace an upward course. Roman\u00adti\u00adciz\u00ading groups like Hamas to fit some pro\u00adgres\u00adsive con\u00adceit about his\u00adto\u00adry\u2019s tra\u00adjec\u00adto\u00adry is wrong-headed.<\/p>\n Hamas has told us who they are. We should rid our\u00adselves of delusions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201c<\/span>The time will not come until Mus\u00adlims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Mus\u00adlim! there is a Jew hid\u00ading behind me, come on and kill him!\u201d Hamas \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading