Presented here: a flurry of the editor’s opinion prompted through the daily round of chatyping/expressing on social media. Probably, others, including Palestinians, have had these notions on their minds for some time
A narrative through which the Palestinians have been lied too for more than 70 years is not something either Israelis or Palestinians need to or should respect. The soul of the conflict sustained by PLO / PA has to do with Palestinian intentions for Israel far more than the history of the place, but the accompanying demonizations of Jews and of Israel is not something that Israel, the west, or modern Palestinians need to accept or tolerate. Those old lies, that propaganda from another age, needs to drift into the past and, at some point, be sealed in it.
The Hamafia has before it the ultimate jihad: the struggle to change itself. Otherwise, it probably will be diminished in its ability to wage a continuous war of displacement against the Jews of Israel. Think about what Hamas has taken from the Palestinians. It has looted them; it has deflected construction and development funds to war purposes (e.g., “terror tunnels”); it has robbed Palestinian children of modern educations; and it has stolen from them their ability to express themselves politically and engage in regular and fair and free elections. Hamas occupies the Gaza Strip by force.
Regarding sentiment related to “Judea and Samaria” v “Palestinian Territories”, I would think most of moderate temperament would hold open the option of a two-state solution with semi-autonomous Palestinian statehood adjusted according to level-of-threat in relation to terrorism and genocidal will on the part of the Palestinians.
As things stand, the PLO / PA and Hamas have a functionally complex relationship with Israel, but the two are very much the Administrators of their turf. They may abuse the Palestinians all they want, and it seems neither Israel nor the west will interfere with them. However, for basic services and trade, Palestinian government cooperation with Israel seems unavoidable and, in fact, long established.
Back in 2006/7, the election results came as a surprise to Washington and to the PLO / PA.
Hamas was to more firmly establish its power on the Gaza Strip by force.
“In 2006, Hamas won a slight majority of the seats in the Palestinian Authority legislative elections. This would have put Hamas in a commanding position for both the West Bank and Gaza, but there was a problem: Hamas refused to accept previous deals that the PA had made with Israel. That lead Western powers to freeze out aid, which the PA depends on, to any Hamas-led PA. Tensions between the PLO and Hamas eventually escalated to outright war between the two factions, which ended up with Hamas governing Gaza independently from the West Bank–based PLO” — https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080058/israel-palestine-hamas
Hamas brutality toward the Palestinians has been well noticed.
The Hamas methods of absolute rule and brutal political repression may be worth thinking about for those who believe themselves “in solidarity” with the organization.
Related Online
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/gaza-strip .
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/west-bank
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