Lifting boycot of Hamas would fuel further attacks
Should we listen to the tremendous number of people who have called the boycott of Hamas a complete failure? They point out that the Islamist movement established a near monopoly both the use of force and open political activity. Hamas has refashioned the legislative and legal systems in Gaza and enjoys free rein to shape society through the management of the health, education, and religious sectors. Boycott opponents point out that it has not reduced the willingness of Hamas to sacrifice the economy of Gaza (as it is doing now) to pursue attacks on Israel; yet lifting it will not reduce Hamas’s willingness to gear the entire economy of Gaza towards fueling (through taxes and other means) to further attacks on Israel.
In post-boycott negotiations with Hamas, violence would follow predictable pattern of “It’s not us, it’s our military wing; it’s not our military wing, it’s our breakaway group; it’s not a breakaway group, but a separate ‘heroic’ group that we would be traitors to our cause to do anything about.” Even boycott opponents acknowledge that if the economy was a Hamas priority, attacks on Israel would have stopped already, and these opponents argue “Why continue with what isn’t working?” The absurdity in all this is that there are calls in many parts of the world for the destruction of Israel which is a flourishing modern secular democratic state with a working judiciary and free press, a state that works hard to meet the economic and security needs of its people, while a state that is very much the opposite and would be the foremost candidate for a ‘destruction of a state’ (”Hamasistan’ in Gaza) is the one everyone insists must be negotiated with.
Aaron Bianco
University City
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Absolutely continue with the boycott. Why on earth should we deal with a terrorist entity which has repeatedly committed itself to the destruction of Israel, our ally? It\’s important not to give any credibility or aid to this monstrous organization, even if the boycott doesn\’t actually convince them to cease their terrorist activities.
Which it won\’t, by the way. Hamas has proven time and time again that it cares little for the lives of the citizens of Gaza. They purposely launch rockets into Israel from civilian centers, knowing that when Israel must strike back to take out the launchers, innocent Palestinians will be killed. They don\’t care about this. Actually, they welcome it. Dead Palestinians are the best PR they could ever get. Hamas leaders use human shields, including children, to hide behind.
(And by the way, to those who say Israel should withdraw from the West Bank, just look what has happened in the nearly 2 years since they withdrew from Gaza. Hardly a single day has gone by since the withdrawal that Hamas has not launched rockets into Israel, terrorizing Israeli citizens.)
More proof that Hamas couldn\’t care less about the Palestinians: the Palestinians have received more international aid than anyone else on earth. The amount is now in the billions of dollars. Yet instead of using that money to improve the lives of people in Gaza by building hospitals, roads, an economy, schools, etc., it has been used for one purpose only: to fund terror.
No, this terrorist group is definitely not an organization that our government should be dealing with.