|
Hamas Sacrifices Gaza Citizens to Win PR Game
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
July 16, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Rejecting an
Egyptian ceasefire proposal backed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Hamas
decided to let Israel hang itself by continuing to pound the impoverished
seaside territory, letting the press highlight the horrific collateral damage. Sacrificing Gaza residents isn’t
anything new since Hamas seized the once Egyptian territory know as the Gaza
Strip. When Hamas took the area by
force June 12, 2007 from Mahmoud Abbas’s Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority,
Israel knew they’d have problems from their Southern neighbor. Since the 1967 Six Day War, Israel
occupied the Gaza Strip until Aug. 14, 2005, when the late hawkish Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon decided to give back the land. Given the periodic violent flair-ups
and rocket fire, it calls into question Sharon’s idea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu questions whether re-occupying Gaza would help
Israel’s national security.
Netanyahu wants the U.N. to create a demilitarized zone in Gaza where
armed bands of terrorists can no longer wage war on Israel and endanger the
civilian population. Demilitarization, said Netanyahu is “the most important
step for the international community to insist on.” Hamas “informed Cairo today
officially that we don’t accept the proposal they made,” said Hamas official
Sami Abu Zuhri. Hamas doesn’t like el-Sisi’s reluctance, unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, to open up any
border crossings allowing Hamas to smuggle more arms and rockets. What Hamas dislikes about el-Sisi is
his intolerance of terrorism. Hamas
addiction to terrorism stems from its Hitler-like, anti-Semitic Charter
fingering the Jews, like Hitler did in the 30s, for all the evils of the modern
world. Hamas wants backing from the
Arab world’s more virulent Jew-haters, like Libya, Algeria, Yemen or even
Somalia.
Hamas finds itself painted into a corner because of its extremist
ideology. Looking briefly at the
group’s charter shows its allegiance to the Third Reich, completing what Hitler
couldn’t in WWII. Rejecting a
Cairo-backed truce let’s Hamas continue its heroics in the Arab World, firing
more useless rockets at Israel.
Watching Netanyahu decimate parts of impoverished Gaza fuels the kind of
sympathies that win Hamas cash donations from anti-Zionist elements in the
Middle East. Targeting Hamas
leaders’ properties in Gaza, Israel hopes to see the white flag. Hamas’s current refusal to
capitulate to ceasefire demands keep up the PR battle that makes Israel look
cold and mercenary for devastating poor Gaza’s neighborhoods. Hamas’s PR team is busy highlighting
the human toll of Israel’s air-strikes and collateral damage in Gaza’s
over-crowded neighborhoods.
Warning Gaza residents to leave unsafe areas likely to get bombed in
coming days continues Hamas’s PR offensive making Israeli looks like monsters to
Gaza’s civilian population. With
Hamas’s official media wing Al-Aqsa TV & Radio whipping Gaza’s civilians into a
frenzy, the more civilian casualties the merrier. “It’s a cold blooded massacre,” said 41-year-old Gaza City resident Abdel Kareem Baker,
watching Israeli collateral damage kill four Palestinian boys. “It’s a shame how come they didn’t
identify them as kids with all of the advanced technology they claim they’re
using,” proving the perfect PR message to the Arab street. Firing 61 more rockets Wednesday,
Hamas invites the Israeli counterattacks to keep their PR going at the expense
of innocent Gaza residents. Hamas’s
media wing sees only positives letting Israel decimate large swaths of the Gaza
Strip.
When Hamas says it has nothing to lose in Gaza they aren’t kidding. Broke, politically isolated and
desperate, Hamas needs all the PR help they can get to ramp up the fund raising. Nothing accomplishes it more than
going up against the monstrous Jewish State, pitting lowly Hamas against
Israel’s war machine. “There is a
rocket launching site in the area,” said an Israeli spokesman, warning residents
that Israel intends to go after the site, no matter what the collateral damage. Israel justifies its actions by
insisting Hamas uses civilians as human shields.
While that’s indisputable, the public sees Israel as the aggressor, not
the beaten down Gazan population.
Piling up more rubble and dead bodies helps the Palestinian cause by
highlighting Israeli cruelty. Hamas
hopes the U.N. pressures Israel into a unilateral ceasefire, regardless of Hamas
rocket attacks.
Rejecting the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, Hamas has no intent of
stopping rocket fire until Israel agrees to release 55-yer-old Marwan Barqouti
and other high value Hamas figures currently held in Israeli jails. Considered a favorite to takeover
the PLO from 78-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, Barghouti has the charisma needed for
Palestine’s next generation of leadership.
When Hamas and the PLO jointed forces April 23, there was hope that Abbas
could contain Hamas’s self-destructive tendencies. Judging by past week, it’s clear
that Hamas cannot be part of any peace process, now or in the future. Egypt’s el-Sisi figured out the same
thing about the Muslim Brotherhood.
With all the racist rhetoric in Hamas’s charter and past violence with Israel,
it’s clear they’ve been marginalized as a destructive terror group. However the latest episode turns
out, Hamas can’t be part of any future plans.
|
