The Capital Times, a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin, published an Op-Ed on March 17 by local anti-Israel activist Jennifer Loewenstein. The column, for the most part, ranted incoherently against Israel and was riddled with factual errors.
Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) is considered a terrorist organization by much of the non-Arab international community including Israel, the U.S. and the European Union. But following the group's overwhelming victory in Palestinian elections, some journalists and politicians like former U.S. President Jimmy Carter now insist Hamas deserves to be recognized and legitimized. Given such trends, it is important to recall key facts about Hamas.
A familiar quality of unreality pervades much of the news and commentary about the ascendance of Hamas in recent Palestinian elections. Note is endlessly made of the fact that Hamas, with its clinics and other welfare operations, is less "corrupt" than the old-guard Fatah chieftains. But as to why Palestinians en masse are comfortable choosing a leadership engaged in the defamation and murder of innocent Jews -- including children, teenagers and the elderly -- very little is said.
In an interview last week with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' parliamentary slate, Ha'aretz's Amira Hass scolded the Hamas leader for his upbeat assessment regarding the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The exchange follows:
While European Union and American officials are aghast at the electoral victory of the terrorist organization Hamas, London's Guardian newspaper wasted no time in burnishing the image of the group sworn to Israel's destruction and treating its victory as a positive development.
Despite its victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas remains the same old organization committed to Israel's destruction. News consumers might be forgiven, however, for thinking the group has reformed, because much of the American media appears eager to minimize threats to Israel and to blame the Jewish state for all lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.
An analysis of the Palestinian election by the Guardian's diplomatic editor, Ewen MacAskill, softens and justifies Hamas's goals and motives, depicting the terrorist organization's political victory ludicrously as a chance to achieve real peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This delusional attitude and acceptance of Hamas's rhetoric reflects the predominant Guardian position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
With Palestinian elections scheduled for January 25th, it is important to recall that under the Oslo Agreements terror groups like Hamas are barred from participating, and that this is a solemn Palestinian obligation under signed peace accords rather than a "unilateral Israeli demand."
Rami Khouri, editor-at-large of Lebanon's Daily Star, and a frequent NPR guest, today on the network actually blamed Ariel Sharon for the rise of Islamism in the Middle East. Perhaps Khouri has never heard of the Wahhabis, or the Saudis and their vast oil wealth, or the Taliban, or Sudan under al-Turabi. That being the case, it's too bad for NPR listeners that the network has heard of Khouri, and invites him on so often.
