Hamas 'harming Gaza opponents'

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Hamas 'harming Gaza opponents'

Take a good look at their "democracy".

Wait...are you implying that some people on this forum actually support Hamas? If so....they're crazy! The Palestinian people don't even like them. They're just supporting them because that's there only hope. Kind of like a lot of tribes in Afghanistan are with the Taliban.

The way some members say things it makes me wonder...

Well I suppose one could easily misunderstand the notion that regardless of how much everyone hates Hamas, its a government body (not a terrorist organization) that needs to be engaged diplomatically. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Hamas is that its a terrorist organization. Its actually a military faction split up from the PLO after the Oslow Accords were signed. The reason why its associated with terrorism is because for one thing their uncontrolled military is engaged in the activity and that they're doing nothing to stop it. That and they do have ties with other terrorist organizations. The governing body in itself is not a terrorist organization but rather a terrorist sympathizer. They actually scorn rocket fires but do nothing because they still hate Israel and want them gone. Now what makes Gaza so complicated is that Hamas (the governing body who is also a military body) is irresponsible and very ineffective in controlling their own military. It is sections of this military who have run amok and firing rockets into Israel and sending suicide bombers in.

What a lot of people don't understand is that for one thing Hamas is considering accepting the fact that Israel has a right to exist because they are finally coming terms with reality and that there are certain members in the government who are more in line with the political beliefs of Fatwah or the official government of Palestine who the West and Israel are trying to broker a deal with. This is dumb because everyone knows if you want to solve a problem you have to negociate with your enemy rather than your friend.

But there are many problems that must be met. First and foremost we need heavy talks with Fatwah, the government of Hamas (not the military gone nuts), and Israel. So far we're only talking with Fatwah and Israel. Second off Hamas needs to accept the fact that they need to take care of their own people first before they can take on an impossible enemy like Israel. Third, Hamas needs to broker a deal with Fatwah. Hamas needs supplies to not only take care of their own people but also to gain control of their military. But they also need to accept Israel as a state and formulate a more effective governing body. Maybe some form of republic could work. Anyway there's a shit storm of trouble they need to fix and this is only the tip of the iceberg but those are the fundamental issues that need to be met within the next few years.

Oh and P.S. Apparently its not Hamas thats seizing foreign aid from Egypt but Fatwah who controls the supply routes going into Gaza. They're doing this to try and weed out the governing body of Hamas and its military force. Anyway I'm not supporting Hamas but rather suggesting we re-think our stratedgy for dealing with them.

If they can't even control their own military, what good are they to negotiate with?

Well I suppose we could send in NATO troops to wipe them out within a matter of hours lol, but they won't do this because of Iran, syria, and lebenon. Not to say they're powerful but they do control a significant amount of oil and they have connections with Russia...well Iran does. Anyway, its too touchy to be directly involved with, which is one of the reasons we value Israel so much. They act as a proxy to fight Hamas for us while carrying out their own agenda. I think what we should do is get Fatwa and Hamas to reunite once more, but in order to do that you have to take care of the rouge military. Maybe a deal between Israel, Fatwa, and Hamas are in order? Perhaps if Israel agrees to do x,y, and z, Hamas will regroup itself with Fatwa. And if Israel does x,y, and z, Hamas will agree to wipe out the rouge military....with the help of both parties of course. Foreign policy is tough because you can't simply rule with an iron fist. You have to strategically pick your battles.