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Israel and Hamas: Whose Side Are We On?

Ryan Mauro - 1/8/2009

As the Gaza conflict continues, I am continually amazed at how some continue to frame Israel as the "bad guy." This isn't to say that one can't oppose the military offensive, or oppose Israeli policy in general, but in a conflict between Israel and Hamas, a listed terrorist organization, it is clear who Americans should be rooting for.

Many in the media and academia feel that a true test of objectivity is btaking the side opposite of that of the U.S. and its allies, and if you don't follow their shining example, then you are being blinded by ignorant, knee-jerk loyalty to U.S. policy, and you need to do a better job of recognizing that there are two legitimate, equally valid sides to every conflict. Choosing sides against American interests, however, does not require one to see both sides. This exercise in moral relativism deeply troubles me.

Israel's actions come in response to thousands of rocket attacks on their cities, an assault which no other country on Earth would have tolerated for so long. The Hamas attacks are not the actions of a legitimate, Palestinian nationalist movement. Hamas is a politically wiser version of al-Qaeda that has wrapped itself around the Palestinian independence movement, hijacking the passion of those seeking a Palestinian state to pursue their radical Islamic ideology.

Hamas was founded by, and is an integral part of, Muslim Brotherhood--a group whose primary goal isn't to create a homeland for the Palestinians, but to (according to its own captured plans) "establish an Islamic government on earth."

Muslim Brotherhood's plan specifically said to "adopt the Palestinian cause as part of a worldwide Islamic plan, with the policy plan and by means of jihad, since it acts as the keystone of the renaissance of the Arab world today." Hamas's goal is not to establish a Palestinian state per se, but to utilize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one front in a global radical Islamic offensive. Their objective is not to create a country for the Palestinians, but to destroy Israel. The truth is that this is less about the well-being of Palestinians, and more about destroying their perceived anti-Islamic enemies.

So let's review the facts:

* Israel is fighting for its very existence, whereas Hamas is not fighting for an independent Palestinian state, but the advancement of a radical Islamic ideology.
* Israel is not opposed to creating a Palestinian state, and even has dismantled Jewish settlements to allow such a state to being created; Hamas's party platform calls for the destruction of Israel, and not the creation of a Palestinian state living peacefully side-by-side with the Jews.
* Israel was founded by Jews seeking a national homeland after the Holocaust; Hamas was founded by Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamic group that worked with the Nazis and spawned most of today's terrorist groups.
* Israel does not deliberately target civilians; Hamas suicide bombs any Jew it can and purposely uses schools and mosques as staging grounds for attacks, thus using civilians as shields.
* Israel is democratic, protecting the rights of both its Jewish and Arab citizens; Hamas is a tyrannical organization that kills its critics.
* Israel took measures to warn civilians of impending assaults; Hamas breaks ceasefires unilaterally and repeatedly views Jews living in Israel as legitimate targets for attack.
* Israel is treating Palestinian civilians injured in the conflict in their hospitals; Hamas uses hospitals as terrorist staging grounds.

There should be no argument about whose side we want to prevail in this conflict. Americans can disagree about tactics, strategy and policy--but there is no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is a greater barrier to Palestinian statehood than Israel. Hamas's version of "independent statehood" is the destruction of Israel and replacing it with Palestine; an outcome that will never come about unless there is a regional war that forces it upon the Jewish people. It is just as extremist as it is unrealistic. On the other hand, Israelis (and from my observations, most Palestinians) are content with the creation of a Palestinian state next door that does not sponsor attacks on its citizens.

A victory by Israel over Hamas is a victory for all those seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians; it is a victory for those desiring an independent, peaceful Palestinian state that does not live in a state of war with the Israelis; and it is a victory for those that care about the well-being of the Palestinians, rather than the destruction of the Jewish state.