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February 1, 2006

This article made my blood boil. Normally I don't get into politics on here at all, but suffice to say, I am vehemently pro-Israel. No matter how left one may be, to side with terrorists, which they are, no matter how many times they say they aren't, is a big farking mistake. Hamas, people, is a terrorist organization. If Osama bin Laden had sent that letter in, would it have been treated to such dignity? I think not. Whenever something like that is sent in from a terrorist, there are so-called "specialists" called in to verify and negotiate and create a hullabaloo. This letter was printed in Newsweek, not the daily newspaper or ran via video stream from MSNBC, but Newsweek. A magazine placed in doctors' offices and lobbies everywhere, within easy reach of children and soccer moms. The most frustrating thing about the article is the fact that the little voting bar on the side ("Should Israel negotiate with a Hamas-led government?") is not working for me, so I can't sit here and register the "NO! NO! NO!" going off in my head.

Possibly more later when I calm down a bit. Stay tuned...

Comments

i'm not posting anything to argue, and i am generally very pro-israel, but i just wanted to point out that the PLO, which has been governing the palestinian authority for the last few decades, was listed as a terrorist org up until it headed up the authority...now hamas finds itself in a similar situation...what is the world to do? to automatically shut it out would be to completely throw the peace process away. they were elected in a free and fair election after all. but how does isreal and the rest of the world approach the situation...on the one hand negotiations don't seem appropriate, but on the other they they are not holding the palestinian authority hostage, they were elected...
i'm not giving a solution, or making excuses...all i'm saying is that, while hamas is, at least at this point in time, a terrorist organization, it also was fairly elected to govern, so the situation, at least in my eyes, is not as cut-and-dry as the situation with al-qaeda. and the way the US approaches the situation will not necessarily be the same as israel.
anyway, as i said, i'm not here to argue so i don't need a point-by-point refutation of what i've said. i'm just saying it's a VERY difficult situation, and i think everyone is kind of at a loss on what to do next.

Posted by: Zach at February 1, 2006 2:16 PM

"In order for the United States to support a Palestinian government run by Hamas, Hamas must change its party platform and change its way of thinking and get rid of this armed group, as well as change its attitude toward Israel," -W

i mean, obvs this has to happen. and if it does happen, then, assumedly, the peace process will continue as before.

Posted by: zach at February 1, 2006 3:00 PM

I do agree with you, zach, about the need for some kind of resolution which is somewhat out of grasp currently. I just don't understand how a people can elect such horrible representation (cough, cough, gwbush cough, cough), but this just takes the cake. I understand that somehow the PLO arabs think that Hamas gets things done (ie. the pullout of Israel from some territories), and that they think that possibly Hamas will be the way to a so-called "Palestinian State" in the world or taking Israel back over. I just don't understand the motivation of those PLO arabs and the way things are really working in their heads over there. I think the lack of understanding is the thing that's really bothering me right now, and of course, I get all emotional about it, since I would like to eventually live in Israel (though hopefully when things are a bit more stable than they are now). To cut this short, I still believe that the Fatah party is still a terrorist org, even if the US doesn't claim it is, and I don't see any major parties coming to power with the PLO arabs that aren't terrorist organizations. So, what to do, what to do....

Posted by: Devlyn Author Profile Page at February 1, 2006 9:29 PM

things will probably not get too much more stable in our lifetime, dear. i hope it will be better than now, but for the foreseeable future, i don't see much stability...because obvs it's not just about the palestinians and the israelis. it's about the whole region. i try to look at the situation from both sides and from many angles in order to gain a bigger picture of the situation, but one thing i don't get is this concept that israel may not exist one day...as if that's even within grasp (short of a nuclear war...). everything could just move faster if everyone on earth could agree that, yes, israel exists, and no, it is not going away. regardless of the circumstances that brought it into existance or whatever has happened.
anyway, whatevs.

Posted by: zach at February 2, 2006 10:37 AM

concurage ici.

Posted by: Devlyn Author Profile Page at February 2, 2006 1:06 PM

i was surprised by the election results, but one of my colleagues who is jewish said he wasn't surprised at all...said so many palestinians had been fed up with the PLO he knew it was coming.

Posted by: marshmallow at February 6, 2006 9:40 PM

I was half-surprised. I think what surprised me the most was just that it did happen, even though I was expecting it. It's like that saying, "Expect the worst from people, and you'll get it."
I totally just felt like Jean Teasdale.

Posted by: Devlyn Author Profile Page at February 7, 2006 9:49 AM