by John M. Curtis
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Copyright March 1, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                Showing the charade of White House talks with the Hamas-PLO entity for a two-state solution, an Egyptian court branded Hamas as a terror group.  Since starting his push July 29, 2013 for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Secretary of State John Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy fell on its face when the Ramallah-based Palestine Liberation Organization joined Hamas April 23, 2014.  Once the PLO and Hamas merged, Kerry knew that any peace was impossible with Hamas still sworn to Israel’s destruction.  Recent developments in Egypt reinforce the idea that the U.S. can no longer pretend PLO-Hamas is a viable peace partner for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal:  The two-state solution is dead.  Kerry finally threw in the towel July 21, 2014, realizing that the U.S. no longer had a Palestinian peace partner.  Generations of U.S. officials pretended to take a “neutral” stand in Mideast diplomacy.

             When Palestinians celebrated wildly after Sept. 11, former President George W. Bush switched gears when it came to Palestinians.  While the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat was given equal clout with Israeli leaders, Bush terminated U.S. involvement with all terrorist groups, including Palestinians.  Since Arafat’s death under suspicious circumstances Nov. 11, 2004, Hamas became more militant, engaging in suicide bombings and terror attacks against Israel.  Hamas refused to acknowledge any past diplomacy with Israel, refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist, continuing its armed fight to topple the Jewish State.  When the late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned Gaza to Palestinians Aug. 10, 2005, it was promptly dominated by the State Department branded terror group Hamas.  After invading Iraq, Bush officials pushed for Democracy in the Middle East.

             Only two years after the Iraq War started March 20, 2003, Bush officials led by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice backed free-and-fair elections in Gaza, part of Bush’s Mideast “democracy” agenda.  When Hamas swept parliamentary elections in Gaza Jan. 27, 2006, Bush’s White House promptly severed ties with Gaza.  Hamas responded June 22, 2007 staging a Gaza coup, seizing power from Ramallah-based PLO’s Mahmoud Abbas.  All the while, Hamas continued to stockpile rockets, burrow tunnels and prepare for the eventual final assault to liberated Palestinian lands from Israel.  Kidnapping Corporal Gilad Shalit June 26, 2006 prompted the first active war between Israel and Hamas.  Consolidating power in Gaza, Hamas’s Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh wanted no part of Mahmoud Abbas and his Ramallah-based PLO.

             As Hamas rejected the PLO and consolidated power in Gaza, it continued to stockpile Iranian and local-made rockets for an eventual war with Israel.  None of Hamas’s government in exile run by Damascus-based Khaled Meshaal wanted anything but to annihilate Israel.  When Kerry’s last attempt at Mideat peace failed July 20, 2014, Hamas had already been firing rockets into Israel.  Launching a new Gaza War [July 8, 2014 to Aug. 26, 2015], Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to protect Israel’s sovereignty and territory from incoming Hamas rocket attacks.  All of Hamas’s public propaganda focused the Arab world on Israel, ignoring warnings from Egypt’s 60-year-old President Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.  El-Sisi toppled the elected government of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi July 3, 2013. outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

             When the Gaza War ended Aug. 26, 2014, Hamas hoped that Egypt would reopen its Rafah border crossing with Egypt, opening the floodgates of more armaments into Gaza.  El-Sisi offered no cooperation with Hamas viewing Hamas as a dangerous part of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.  Expanding its buffer zone with Gaza, destroying tunnels and scouring the area of terrorists, el-Sisi wants no part of Hamas, validating the Egyptian court that branded the group an outlawed terror organization.  Trying to gain sympathies with the Arab world with its six-week fiasco with Israel, Hamas only reaped death and destruction onto Gaza.  Hamas hoped for $5.4 billion in donors’ pledges from Arab states to re-supply the bankrupt Gaza government with enough cash to start paying its bills and civil servants.  Egypt only sees Hamas as a dangerous part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

             Ranting about Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to a joint session of Congress, the White House refuses to admit its failed Mideast policy.  Wasting Kerry’s time for over a year, Obama still has a pre-Sept. 11 mindset when it comes to Mideast peace and diplomacy.  With the PLO and Hamas joining forces, the White House knows that the U.S. no longer has a peace partner for a two-state solution.  Egypt’s recent ban of Hamas tells the real story of the current state of U.S.-Palestinian relations.  As long as Hamas calls the shots, the two-state solution is dead.  “Hamas is taking us hostage for the sake of its own interests,” said Islamic University of Gaza grad student Ahmed Tiri, complaining about Hama’s stranglehold on Gaza.  White House officials should heed Egypt’s Hamas ban and put Palestinians on notice that they can’t be part of any possible two-state solution.

About the Author 

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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