John Kerry’s misguided and naive view of the conflict

The root of the current conflict with Gaza is Hamas. Period.

I keep hearing the popular argument against Israel, suggesting that the Palestinian population in Gaza is just frustrated with the so called Israeli “Occupation” or more accurately, the Gaza blockade. And therefore, some suggest that the rockets and armed resistance from the Palestinians or Hamas in Gaza is somewhat justified. This is a very common argument which all of the PLO and Hamas spokesman have been saying on US television interviews lately. This argument suggests that if only the Israeli government would lift the current blockade and open up the border crossings, Gaza would turn into a flourishing state and begin to live peacefully side by side with the Jewish state of Israel.

This argument however, is flawed at it’s core and detached from the reality of history.

Reality, history and the growing calls by Hamas leaders in Gaza express very clearly that the blockade is not the source of their resistance. They clearly state that their goal is the destruction of Israel and the murder of all Jews internationally. In fact this idea is repeated in the Hamas charter numerous times. They don’t chant “Israel remove the blockade” or “Free us from occupation” or the like. They chant “Death to Israel” and “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” These are chants calling for the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic Sharia law state, inside today’s Israel.

When they go to the media, call for the UN to condemn Israel or organize public rallies and demonstrations against Israel, they hide behind the message of victimization and apartheid. They portray themselves to be the victims of a so called open air prison inflicted upon them by Israel, apparently as a result of Israel’s desire to have them suffer and live as subhumans. As if the removal of current Israeli policy and it’s security measures will mark the historic end to their violence and hatred toward Israel.

Hamas supporters call for the rejection of Kerry’s ceasefire. over the past few weeks Hamas has rejected 5 ceasefire initiatives.

The root of the current conflict is nothing but the violent and genocidal ambitions of Hamas and the people in Gaza who elected them into power. They will never accept the existence of Israel and their stated goal of Israel’s destruction will not be silenced or just disappear. Nor will they ever cease to attack Israel and seek it’s destruction. This radical agenda is at the core of the conflict which drives all of Hamas terror.

The cycle of violence, starting with the Gaza blockade, followed by Hamas rocket attacks aimed at killing civilians in Israel which ultimately resulted in Israel’s operations against Hamas. This cycle of events will keep on repeating itself as long as Hamas is in power, or as long as they still have the capability to carry out these attacks.

This idea that there is another solution, a ceasefire based on an agreement from Hamas to refrain from attacking Israel and in return Israel partially lifting the blockade, will never work or bring a lasting peaceful solution to the people of Israel and Gaza. History has already proven that these deals only lead to a short period of quite, where Hamas smuggles in additional arms and missiles, and then resumes back to the current cycle of violence.

If Israel were to give in to all the Hamas demands, and totally lift the Gaza blockade, Israel would essentially be committing suicide. We would see a massive rearmed Hamas ready to resume it’s attacks on Israel in a matter of several months, Israel would be infiltrated by Hundreds of suicide bombers and Hamas would build dozens if not hundreds of terror tunnels with the supplies coming through it’s borders.

The Obama administration, and John Kerry in particular, seem to demonstrate time and again that they have no true understanding of the core issues behind the current conflict. They seem more and more detached from the reality on the ground, and especially detached from the violent goals and ambitions of Hamas.

When seeking to achieve peace for the people of Israel and Gaza, the administration must address the underlying issues of the conflict. Not merely act inspired by the naive belief that bringing the parties together, or halting the current round of violence will bring about a peaceful solution to the current conflict and crisis. The only action that will prevent another such round of violence is a total demilitarization of Gaza, and a strong effort to replace Hamas with a more moderate leadership who wants to, and will prove its desire and capability to coexist alongside a Jewish state of Israel. In the meantime, and before such leadership takes initiative in Gaza, Israel must be supported as they take the necessary actions to protect it’s people. And that consists of destroying the Hamas weapons arsenal, destroying the terror tunnels and killing the leaders of Hamas terror.