Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: On why Hamas’ history should put the world on alert to the danger posed to Israel

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun. His column appears on Sunday and on occasion during the week.

Not long ago I wrote a column about what should keep all of us up nights.

It was a combination of Iran's relentless determination to have nuclear weapons, its repeated promises to wipe Israel off the face of the map, and then turn its attention to the rest of us and the turmoil caused by the incapacitation of Israel's strong and determined leader, Ariel Sharon, and what was then the uncertainty of the Palestinian elections.

There is no more need for conjecture. As much as we all believe that democracy is the far better alternative to any other system of the way people govern themselves, the aftermath of the recent Palestinian elections may prove the exception to our own rule. Or not.

If Hamas, the militant terrorist organization that is ruled from the Syrian capital of Damascus, decides to renounce terrorism -- which includes the suicide bombings of innocent men, women and children on buses and in cafes in Israel -- and removes the anti-Semitic vitriol in its charter and its call for the total annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people, then this election could bear fruit.

That is because such a significant majority of the Palestinian voters chose Hamas to represent their interests, so there is no reason to believe that they wouldn't support the decisions Hamas makes.

Back to reality. Right now there are armed Hamas victors and armed Fatah losers on the streets of the West Bank and Gaza, each demanding different things.

Fatah wants the resignations of the Fatah leadership in Ramallah who the people blame for the devastating defeat by the militant Hamas, and Hamas wants the reins of power, which means -- who knows what that means? The point is that the democratic process in the Palestinian territories still requires guns and bullets to give effect to the votes.

Even though we have been a democracy for well over 200 years, we still have to relearn the lessons that the demagogues teach us through their own elections in this country.

When a minority of emotionally driven voters rush to the polls and most others stay home, or when a fiery leader captures the voters' imaginations to the exclusion of most rational thought, anything can happen in an election.

Whether it is a school board election in which almost no one participates or a presidential election in which an overarching security mantra carries the day, the result is the same. The people wake up a few days later and ask, "What have we done?"

The good news is that in America when we blunder our way through our elections we have a peaceful and well-proven method of correcting our own mistakes. I am not so sure that the fledgling Palestinian democracy is equal to that task.

If, as the experts seem to suggest, the Palestinians had reform only on their minds -- a tribute to the Hamas version of our own Karl Rove -- then there was good reason to dump the ruling Fatah party leaders, who knew they were the party of corruption but for whatever reasons refused to move fast enough to clean up their act -- corruptive practices developed over decades by the one-man rule of Yasser Arafat.

So now it will be up to Hamas to show the people that they can govern without the corruption that has sucked the millions and millions of well-intentioned financial aid dollars away from the people and institutions that required assistance and into the coffers of who knows what or down the rat holes of who knows where. They can do that in one day.

But governing a people without a country, in a constant state of turmoil and forever being fomented by the forces of evil -- specifically by the puppetmasters of the newly elected democratic leadership of the people -- now that's a different kettle of fish.

Can anyone say peace process?

Israel is not the only country in the world that has said that she will not and cannot be a party to any peace effort with a partner whose avowed aim is the destruction, annihilation, eradication and complete obliteration of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. Every decent, civilized and responsible member of the human community will say the same thing.

So what happens now? My guess is that Israel has already made its contingency plans, not only for Iran's looming nuclear threat but also for the real probability that with Hamas leadership, there will be an increase in all manner of murderous mischief directed toward Israelis. She will not allow that to happen, so you can draw your own conclusions about what might happen now.

As for the Palestinian people who thought they were voting to end corruption without much thought given to the peace process and what happens when you put murderers in charge of making peace, they will have their own challenges in the days ahead. And they will have some difficult decisions to make, the kind that can be made in a democracy but not without significant pain attached.

Remember, we have been charitable in believing that corruption was the motivator behind the elections. If it turns out that the people actually voted for the hate-filled messages of Hamas, giving power and purpose to their murderous ways, then there will be a much different response, not only from Israel but also from the rest of the civilized world.

We can cheer democracy but we cannot support any people who actually vote for death and destruction. Just think what that would do to our theory that democracies don't make war on other democracies!

It seems to me that the Palestinians have days, not weeks or months, to make their intentions clear. With Iran rattling its nuclear sword and the rest of the world wanting to do something about it but -- in typical fashion -- doing nothing but talking, the pressure will mount for Israel to protect itself. There is a real danger, though, that Israel will overreact because it could be facing a very dangerous multi-front attack on its existence.

In the past, Arab armies came from all sides in their pursuit of Israel's destruction. Tanks, planes and armies of men attacked from everywhere, but Israel had the technological edge that allowed it to be victorious. It also had that one determinant that assured its success. Losing was not an option.

Technology will not save Israel the next time. Nuclear-armed countries and terrorists will be too much for whatever edge Israel still has at its disposal. The only thing that could save her is that certain knowledge that her enemies are playing for keeps. Both Hamas and Iran share the same goal: the annihilation of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. That will not happen.

And that is the great danger to the rest of the world and the reason countries such as the United States, its European allies, Russia, China and the rest need to do something now.

Israel will survive, either through its persistence and determination to succeed at the negotiating table or because it will do whatever it has to do on the field of battle.

The choice will be Iran's and Hamas' to make. It would be foolish, though, for the United States or any of the others to allow Israel's survival instincts to determine the course of the world's events in the near term.

We have allowed Iran's nuclear program to exist. We have allowed Syria to support Hamas' destructive efforts. We have allowed other terrorist groups in the Middle East to be sponsored, supported and encouraged by some of our friends and allies in that oil-rich part of the world. That makes us -- the United States, Europe, Russia, China and the rest -- responsible for what happens next.

Remember the last great war and the Holocaust that ensued? It started with Hitler's rise to power through the democratic process. Remember what the United States and the peace-loving nations did when he got started on his maniacal journey? Nothing!

Israel says, "Never again." What does the United States say?

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