In Arafat's Footsteps

If nothing else, the Palestinian election of Hamas to control of what passes for their legislature is proving to be educational, in a very "We Told You So" way.

Even as Russian troops were battling Islamist forces in Chechnya, President Vladimir Putin was entertaining Hamas leaders in Moscow. As a result, and right on cue, France publicly endorsed the Kremlin's overtures to the Islamist terrorist gang, saying that such talks "can contribute to advancing our positions." Given their recent Muslim insurrection, it's difficult to fathom what positions of the French would be "advanced" by breaking bread with jihadis, elected or not. Sounds like the same old reflexive "surrender monkey-ism" to me.

Also right on schedule, President of Earth (in his own mind) Kofi Annan chimed in along the same lines:

"There is an opportunity here for Hamas to transform itself into a political party and work with the international community and the Israeli government," Annan aid, emerging from a meeting with President Bush at the White House.

In quotes picked up by the New York Sun, Annan aid he hoped that welcoming Hamas into the world community after its Palestinian election victory last month would lead the terrorist group to recognize the state of Israel, disarm, and accept all prior Palestinian Arab agreements. [emphasis added]

Annan "hopes" appeasing Hamas will pacify them. Frankly, I don't think Annan believes a word of it, and I don't think he gives a rip how Hamas turns out. Don't forget that he lent the UN's imprimatur to that recent pro-Palestinian gala/celebration/whatever that showed a picture of the Holy Land with "Palestine" in place of Israel. Given what Hamas is, and how brazen they are about it, anybody that would cut them any slack whatsoever has to be considered an enemy of Israel.

And, just as a reminder, this is what Hamas stands for (exerpted by Brother Trunk):

The Islamic Resistance Movement [aka Hamas] is a distinct Palestinian movement that is loyal to Allah, adopts Islam as a way of life and works to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine. Under the wing of Islam, followers of other religions can all live safe and secure in their life, property and rights; whereas in the absence of Islam, discord arises, injustice spreads, corruption burgeons, and there are conflicts and wars....

Allah is its goal, the Prophet its model to be followed, the Koran its constitution, Jihad its way, and death for the sake of Allah its loftiest desire....

The Islamic Resistance Movement maintains that the land of Palestine is Waqf land given as endowment for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. One should not neglect it or [even] a part of it, nor should one relinquish it or [even] a part of it. No Arab state, or [even] all of the Arab states [together], have [the right] to do this; no king or president has this right nor all the kings and presidents together; no organization, or all the organizations together - be they Palestinian or Arab - [have the right to do this] because Palestine is Islamic Waqf land given to all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection.

This is the legal status of the land of Palestine according to Islamic law. In this respect, it is like any other land that the Muslims have conquered by force, because the Muslims consecrated it at the time of the conquest as religious endowment for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection....

The Zionist invasion is a cruel invasion, which has no scruples whatsoever; it uses every vicious and vile method to achieve its goals. In its infiltration and espionage operations, it greatly relies on secret organizations which grew out of it, such as the Freemasons, the Rotary Clubs, the Lions and other such espionage groups. All these organizations, covert or overt, work for the interests of Zionism and under its direction, and their aim is to break societies, undermine values, destroy people's honor, create moral degeneration and annihilate Islam. [Zionism] is behind all types of trafficking in drugs and alcohol, so as to make it easier for it to take control and expand.

We demand that the Arab countries around Israel open their borders to jihad fighters from among the Arab and Islamic peoples, so they may fulfill their role and join their efforts to the efforts of their brothers - the Muslim brethren in Palestine. As for the rest of the Arab and Muslim countries, we demand that they facilitate the passage of the jihad fighters into them and out of them - that is the very least [they can do].

We should not fail to remind every Muslim that when the Jews occupied the Sacred place [i.e., Jerusalem] in 1967 and stood on the threshold of the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque, they shouted: "Muhammad is dead; his offspring are women." Israel with its Jewish identity and Jewish people is challenging Islam and the Muslims. May the cowardly know no sleep.

Now you tell me - which is the immovable object in this equation? The "international community" or Hamas?

We and the Israelis appear to have drawn the same conclusion:

The United States and Israel are discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government so that newly elected Hamas officials will fail and elections will be called again, according to Israeli officials and Western diplomats.

The intention is to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections to the point where, some months from now, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, is compelled to call a new election. The hope is that Palestinians will be so unhappy with life under Hamas that they will return to office a reformed and chastened Fatah movement.

The officials also argue that a close look at the election results shows that Hamas won a smaller mandate than previously understood.

A case of doing the right thing for a really goofy reason. As though Fatah (1) would be "chastened" by being propped up by the U.S. and Israel and (2) is a superior alternative to Hamas. Or, to paraphrase what I wrote after the latter's election triumph, we would be trading back crazy theocratic mass murders for corrupt secular nationalist mass murderers. Better to just cut them both off, unleash the IDF, and let the Pals have the total war they clearly voted for and just as clearly deserve. They were better off under Israeli rule anyway, no matter how much they'd never admit it.

But that won't happen. This, on the other hand, probably will:

You heard it here first: a Hamas leader will win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Make no mistake, Hamas's landslide victory in last month's Palestinian elections was the first step of a process that will culminate with a leader of the terrorist group being celebrated by the international community.

Such a turn of events may sound unlikely right now, because even many Europeans recognize that Hamas is a terrorist group that is sworn to the destruction of Israel. But before Yasser Arafat was awarded the peace prize in 1994, he also had a decades-long record as a terrorist.

Even though Arafat remained a puppeteer of terror behind the scenes, he was elevated to the status of a statesman by Western leaders such as President Bill Clinton who were eager to go down in history as peacemakers.

There has been a sense of optimism in pro-Israel circles that the victory of Hamas will force the world to finally recognize that Israelis do not have a true peace partner. But these supporters of Israel are kidding themselves.

When violence reignites in the region, the Western media will once again portray Israel as the aggressor. Israel has been condemned in the past for its targeted assassinations of Hamas leaders. How will the world react if Israel were to take such action against Hamas leaders holding cabinet positions in a democratically elected government?

In the coming months, the Hamas propaganda machine will begin churning out stories about their day care centers and hospitals, which the Western media will gobble up like fine Swiss chocolate.

In fact, the spin has already begun.

Indeed it has. Vlad, Black Jacques, and King Kofi are leading the way. And rest assured that the Arabists at Foggy Bottom will not be far behind.