How to Handle Hamas (3)

By Daniel Byman
Foreign Affairs. New York: Sep/Oct 2010. Vol. 89, Iss. 5; pg. 45

(Daniel Byman is a Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of the forthcoming book A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism.)

Cease-Fire Calculus

If Hamas cannot be uprooted, can it be calmed enough to not disrupt peace talks? Maybe-and the chance is worth pursuing. Although often depicted as fanatical, Hamas has shown itself to be pragmatic in practice, although rarely in rhetoric. It cuts deals with rivals, negotiates indirecdy with Israel via the Egyptians, and otherwise demonstrates that unlike, say, al Qaeda, it is capable of compromise. Indeed, al Qaeda often blasts Hamas for selling out. Hamas has at times declared and adhered to cease-fires lasting months, and some leaders have speculated that a truce lasting years is possible. And although Hamas has refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist, its leaders have also said they would accept the UN-demarcated 1967 borders between Israel and the Palestinian areas as a starting point for a Palestinian state. Perhaps the most important sign of pragmatism has been Hamas’ general adherence to its cease-fire after Operation Cast Lead.

How to Handle Hamas (2)

By Daniel Byman
Foreign Affairs. New York: Sep/Oct 2010. Vol. 89, Iss. 5; pg. 45

(Daniel Byman is a Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of the forthcoming book A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism.)

The Isolation of Gaza

Israel, Egypt, and the international community have put Gaza under siege to isolate and weaken Hamas. Israel has sealed off Gaza from the sea, and the crossing points into it from Israel and Egypt have usually been closed to normal traffic. Humanitarian aid goes in, but there is a long list of prohibited goods. Ironically, however, Israel’s humanitarian concerns have prevented it from truly pressuring the Gazan people. Israel has tried to coerce Hamas without causing mass starvation, an approach that Israeli officials have described as “no prosperity, no development, no humanitarian crisis.” Although Israeli policies are pushing Gaza closer to the brink, the threat of even more misery simply is not credible.

How to Handle Hamas (1)

By Daniel Byman
Foreign Affairs. New York: Sep/Oct 2010. Vol. 89, Iss. 5; pg. 45

(Daniel Byman is a Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of the forthcoming book A High Price: The Triumphs and Failures of Israeli Counterterrorism.)

The Perils of Ignoring Gaza’s Leadership

The biggest obstacle to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is not the Palestinians’ demand that Jewish settlements in the West Bank be dismantled, the barrier separating much of the West Bank from Israel, or the recent rightward shift of the Israeli body politic. It is the emergence of Hamas as the de facto government of the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians reside.

Iran-Syria-Hizballah-Hamas: Historical Background

Iran-Ideology and Strategy

Historically, fears and obsessive preoccupation with foreign interference, blended with impotence in the face of foreign inluence, have formed the basis of Iranian nationalism. Geography; the need to secure the country’s territorial integrity; competition with other empires (such as the Ottoman Empire); meddling in Iran’s internal afairs by Western/Eastern powers such as Russia, Britain, and the United States; geopolitics and “an acute awareness of the weight of history” have a special place in determining Iranian foreign policy. At the same time, the perception among most Iranians that Iran has been able to overcome outside pressures has allowed for the rise of an “arrogance of nonsubmission.” Ayatollah Khomeini’s celebrated phrase, “America cannot do anything” is a good example of this tendency.(7)

Iran-Syria-Hizballah-Hamas

A Coalition Against Nature
Why Does It Work ?
by Ely Karmon, Ph.D.

The Proteus Monograph Series
Volume 1, Issue 5
May 2008

About the Author

Dr. Ely Karmon has written extensively on international terrorism and has participated to numerous international conferences. His book entitled “Coalitions between Terrorist Organizations. Revolutionaries, Nationalists, Islamists (1968-2000)” was published in 2005 by Martinus Nijhof Publishers. Dr. Karmon is a Senior Research Scholar at the International Policy Institute for Counter-terrorism, and since 2003, also at he Institute for Policy and Strategy, he Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel.

Dr. Karmon holds a B.A. in English and French Culture from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He earned both his M.A and Ph.D. from Haifa University. He took a Licence in International Relations from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, and a Licence in Bantu languages from the Ecole de Langues Orientales, Paris.

He has been a Senior Research Scholar at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya since 1997. He lectured on Terrorism and Guerrilla in Modern Times at he Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya and at the IDF Military College; on International Terrorism at Bar-Ilan University, Israel (2002/3); and on the subjects of International Terrorism and European Extremist Parties and Organizations at Haifa University (1992-2000).

Dr. Karmon was the Shari and Herb Rosen visiting fellow at he Washington Institute for Near East Policy in 2002, which published his policy paper “Fight on All Fronts: Hizballah, the War on Terror, and the War in Iraq” (December 2003). He is a member of the International Permanent Observatory (IPO) on Security Measures during Majors Events at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), Turin, and an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), London, UK.

Dr. Karmon has been involved in several NATO workshops on terrorism and on the Mediterranean Dialogue. He also serves as advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and served as advisor of the Anti-Semitism Monitoring Forum of the Israeli Government Secretariat.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Historical Background
The Building of the Triple Alliance: Iran, Syria, Hizballah (1980-1992)
The Building of the “Axis of Destabilization” (1992-2001)
The “Axis of Destabilization” after 9/11 and the War in Iraq
The “Axis” Involvement in Iraq
The Second Lebanon War (July-August 2006
The United States and Western Strategies in Challenging the “Axis of Destabilization”
Israel’s Counter-terrorism Strategy
Achievements of the “Axis of Destabilization”
The Alliance: Future Scenarios
The Predicament of the Iranian Nuclear Project
Endnotes
Bibliography

‘Hamas would recognise Israel within 1967 borders’

Jang Pakistan, 29/01/09

(Media massa-termasuk Indonesia-seringkali menyampaikan berita tidak seimbang. Berulangkali, mereka sering mengutip sumber info dari Israel bahwa Hamas tidak akan mengakui Israel. Padahal, yang terjadi adalah sebaliknya: Hamas siap mengakui Israel jika Israel keluar dari wilayah yang diduduki sejak 1967. Kini, masalahnya adalah apakah Israel mau melaksanakannya?)

Hamas would recognise Israel if it withdraws to its pre-1967 borders, a French Jewish writer said this week after meeting the exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Khaled Meshaal.

“He told me that Hamas was prepared to recognise Israel on the lines of June 4, 1967. He told me so several times,” Marek Halter told AFP on Monday.

Israel Strengthens Hamas Leadership

By Mohammed Omer
Inter-Press Service (IPS)
April 22, 2008

GAZA CITY-The one political result of Israel’s attacks and sanctions on Gaza has been that the Hamas leadership, and particularly Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have emerged greatly strengthened.

Over the last three months, support for Haniyeh has overtaken that for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party. Fatah rules the West Bank, and Hamas Gaza, the two main Palestinian territories.

Why Hamas is a growing challenge for Israel?

Saturday’s suicide bombings at Kerem Shalom are part of a shift toward the tactics of Lebanon-based Hizbullah, presenting Israel with a new-old dilemma: invade or try to broker a cease-fire.

By Josh Mitnick
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
posted April 20, 2008

Tel Aviv – Even as Jimmy Carter was seeking a promise from Hamas leaders this weekend to cease rocket attacks on Israel, the militant organization launched what a top Israeli army commander called its most aggressive cross-border attempt since Palestinians took over the Gaza Strip in 2005.

On Saturday, militants using jeeps disguised as Israeli army vehicles approached an Israeli border crossing and detonated the vehicles in twin suicide attacks that injured 13. A senior leader promised that worse was to come if Israel, which responded with airstrikes that killed seven militants, doesn’t loosen Gaza’s “siege” – a 10-month economic blockade of the territory.

Survey: Nasrallah is the most admired leader in the Arab world

Survey: Nasrallah is the most admired leader in the Arab world
By Haaretz –16/04/08–

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Nassan Nasrallah is the most admired leader in the Arab world, according to a poll released recently by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland.

Nasrallah seems to be gaining in popularity, with some 26 percent of respondents voicing support for him. Syrian President Bashar Assad also won an increase in popularity, according to the poll.

Killing in the West Bank Exposes a Furtive War

Hamas Cleric Apparently Tortured to Death in Custody of Rival Palestinian Authority

By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 17, 2008; A14

KOBAR, West Bank – When the preacher’s body arrived at the hospital, his back was scarlet where he had been whipped with pipes. His legs were black with bruises. His wrists were sliced open and bloodied.

The Palestinian Authority, which had been holding Majd Barghouti in an intelligence-service prison for the previous week, soon declared that the popular Hamas imam, or prayer leader, had died of a heart attack.

No Peace Without Hamas

No Peace Without Hamas
By Mahmoud al-Zahar
–Washington Post, 16/04/08–

President Jimmy Carter’s sensible plan to visit the Hamas leadership this week brings honesty and pragmatism to the Middle East while underscoring the fact that American policy has reached its dead end. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acts as if a few alterations here and there would make the hideous straitjacket of apartheid fit better. While Rice persuades Israeli occupation forces to cut a few dozen meaningless roadblocks from among the more than 500 West Bank control points, these forces simultaneously choke off fuel supplies to Gaza; blockade its 1.5 million people; approve illegal housing projects on West Bank land; and attack Gaza City with F-16s, killing men, women and children. Sadly, this is “business as usual” for the Palestinians.

Last week’s attack on the Nahal Oz fuel depot should not surprise critics in the West. Palestinians are fighting a total war waged on us by a nation that mobilizes against our people with every means at its disposal-from its high-tech military to its economic stranglehold, from its falsified history to its judiciary that “legalizes” the infrastructure of apartheid. Resistance remains our only option. Sixty-five years ago, the courageous Jews of the Warsaw ghetto rose in defense of their people. We Gazans, living in the world’s largest open-air prison, can do no less.

Should the world talk to Hamas?

A consensus to isolate the group is fraying due to the lack of political results.

By Howard LaFranchi
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the March 25, 2008 edition

Washington – After Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006, the international community’s reaction was swift, clear, and virtually unanimous: The extremist Islamist political party would be isolated and barred from international negotiations until it recognized Israel, renounced violence, and agreed to respect earlier accords in the Middle East peace process.

More than two years later, cracks are beginning to show in the wall of resistance to Hamas, with some Western officials (and even a few Israelis) wondering publicly if it isn’t time to engage an organization that continues to lead a large part of the Palestinian people. The question is even being posed in Washington.

Poll shows Palestinians now favor Hamas over Fatah

From the Los Angeles Times

Poll shows Palestinians now favor Hamas over Fatah

The militant group, which opposes peace talks and Israel, has reversed a two-year decline in popularity.

By Richard Boudreaux
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 18, 2008

JERUSALEM — During three months of foundering peace talks overshadowed by violence, the U.S.-backed Palestinian leadership in the West Bank has lost popular support and is now viewed as less legitimate than the Islamist government of rival group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a poll released Monday.

The survey is the latest sign that the Bush administration’s effort to shore up secular Palestinian leaders and isolate Hamas is failing. That effort, part of a strategy to stabilize the Middle East through an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, includes diplomatic support and promises of economic aid to the West Bank.

How the Bush Admin Lied to Congress and Armed Fatah to Provoke Palestinian Civil War Aiming to Overthrow Hamas

Iran Contra 2.0: How the Bush Admin Lied to Congress and Armed Fatah to Provoke Palestinian Civil War Aiming to Overthrow Hamas

(www.democracynow.org)

Related Link
The Gaza Bombshell byDavid Rose

In its latest issue, Vanity Fair reports that the White House tried to organize the armed overthrow of the Hamas-led goverment after Hamas swept Palestinian elections two years ago. According to the article, the Bush administration lied to Congress and boosted military support for rival Palestinian faction Fatah in the aim of provoking a Palestinian civil war they thought Hamas would lose. Vanity Fair dubbed the episode “Iran Contra 2.0″—a reference to the Reagan administration’s funding of Nicaraguan Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran. We speak with David Rose, the journalist who broke the story.

AMY GOODMAN: As Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, arrives in the Middle East, Vanity Fair published a story that raises new questions about the Bush administration’s role in the ongoing crisis. The article reports the White House tried to organize the armed overthrow of the Hamas-led government after Hamas swept Palestinian elections two years ago. According to Vanity Fair, the administration boosted military support for rival Palestinian faction Fatah in the aim of provoking a Palestinian civil war they thought Hamas would lose. Vanity Fair dubbed the episode “Iran Contra 2.0,” a reference to the Reagan administration’s funding of Nicaraguan Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran.

A former top Bush administration official said he believes Hamas’s seizure of power in Gaza last year may have likely been a preemptive measure against the anticipated US-backed coup. The official, David Wurmser, served as Vice President Cheney’s Middle East adviser until he resigned in July of 2007, a month after Hamas took over. Wurmser said, “There is a stunning disconnect between the President’s call for Middle East democracy and this policy. It directly contradicts it.”

The Bush administration is denying the story. State Department spokesperson Tom Casey called the article “absurd,” “untrue” and “ridiculous.”

We’re joined now by journalist David Rose, author of the Vanity Fair piece. It’s called “The Gaza Bombshell.” David Rose joins us from London in England.

Thanks for joining us, David Rose. Lay out what you learned.

US plot to overthrow elected Palestinian government exposed

US plot to overthrow elected Palestinian government exposed
By Jean Shaoul
–World Socialist Web Site, 08/03/8–

The United States plotted the armed overthrow of the Hamas government elected by the Palestinian people in January 2006, according to “The Gaza Bombshell”, an article based on leaked documents and interviews with key players in the Bush administration that was published in the latest edition of the US magazine Vanity Fair.

Vanity Fair called the affair “Iran Contra 2.0″, a reference to the Reagan administration’s funding of the Nicaraguan Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran in contravention of official policy. This latest plot was prepared not by some middle-ranking spies and military personnel, but by the State Department with approval from the very top of the political establishment, including President George W. Bush. It was implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams, who has a long history in plotting coups and illegal activities on behalf of US imperialism.