Israel Matzav

What Hamas really wants

Evelyn Gordon quotes Leftist Gershon Baskin, who acted as a go-between with Hamas in the terrorists for Gilad trade.

In the early days of the official negotiations I was asked to inform Hamas that once Shalit was no longer in Gaza Israel would allow major economic development and infrastructure projects to be implemented there. Some in Israel believed this could serve as an incentive to the Hamas leaders to advance the deal. It was not. To the contrary: that proposal was essentially ignored. At no point in those talks did my Hamas interlocutors express any real interest in pursuing that discussion. My hunch – that economic issues would not excite Hamas leaders to make compromises – proved to be correct.

Gordon comments:

In other words, Hamas couldn’t care less about improving ordinary Palestinians’ lives by easing the blockade of Gaza. Indeed, it was so indifferent to this goal it completely ignored an Israeli offer to do so. Instead, it focused solely on trying to get Israel to release the maximum number of the most murderous terrorists it possibly could –for instance, the men who orchestrated deadly suicide bombings on a Passover seder in Netanya, a Jerusalem pizzeria and buses in Jerusalem and Haifa (those four attacks alone killed 73 Israelis). In short, faced with a choice between improving its people’s lives and improving its ability to murder Israelis by freeing the most accomplished killers, it unhesitatingly chose the latter.

Nor is there any shortage of other evidence regarding Hamas’ utter indifference to its people’s welfare. It has barred aid shipments from entering Gaza; it banned Israeli imports after Israel eased the blockade last year, hence ensuring Gaza remained deprived; it shut down Gaza’s major power plant rather than pay for the fuel; it barred high school students from using the scholarships they won for study abroad; and the list could go on and on.

Hence, the idea Hamas will suddenly decide to change course and cooperate with Israel on easing the blockade is ludicrous. And the idea other Islamist governments will moderate once they gain power is liable to prove equally so.

It's always been that way, and not just with Hamas but even with Fatah. Back in the mid-to-late '90's, I heard Natan Sharansky speak at an alumni event for Bir Zeit on the Hudson. Sharansky had just finished a term as Minister of Industry and Trade in the Rabin government. He said that every time they tried to talk to the 'Palestinian Authority' about economic development, they would change the subject to gaining control over more land and getting more weapons. They weren't interested in anything that would make their 'state' viable for the long term without massive economic aid.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Labels: Gaza blockade, Hamas, Natan Sharansky, Palestinian Authority

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:35 PM