What I mean is that whether the party in power in Palestine recognizes Israel or not, our life, as Palestinians, remains the same. I think that if Hamas recognizes Israel, it will lose its popularity among the Palestinians, who are fed up with their living conditions. You said in your e-mail that negotiations lead to no results because of breaches from both sides. During the past few months, there were no "suicide attacks"; however, the Israeli assassinations continued. So, which is the side responsible for destroying the effort for achieving peace in the region?!

David, you said that we should understand that Israel launches attacks against Palestinians as a result of its paranoia. Does this mean that the paranoia gives any state the green light for killing people? This sounds weird.

You said that if Hamas bettered the life of the Palestinians, anger would go down. So, why don't we give it the chance to do so without pressuring it and without forcing it to do what the whole Palestinian society believes to be fruitless. I think that the world should be more interested in what Hamas can achieve in the region and how it can bring about development and improvement.

Since Hamas leaders say that they are ready to stop the attacks on Israel, such a step should be seen positively. It's a step that can calm the situation down in the region (if this is what the United States wants).

According to a poll conducted a few days ago, more than 80 percent of the people polled assured that if the parliamentary elections were to take place again they would have elected Hamas again. This shows that Palestinians support Hamas's agenda. So, I think putting pressure on Hamas is of no use; the world should work on bettering the lives of Palestinians instead.

*****

March 11, 2006

Tasneem,

I think that if Hamas lives up to its promise of bettering life in Gaza and the West Bank, it will not matter what its stance on Israel is. Do you really think that Palestinians would stop supporting a ruling party that had greatly improved their lives just because they recognized Israel? 

The paranoia should not be a green light to attack, but in a way that seems to be what it is. The United States accepts Israel's actions based on the paranoia brought on by past and current events. Through its silence, the United States gives Israel the green light to do what it wants. It sees Israel's actions as preventive measures against an organization that has come to power and that is still refusing to recognize that Israel has the right to exist. So even in the absence of suicide bombings, Israel is allowed to continue its aggression because it needs to prevent the types of attacks that happened in the past.

This paranoia is something that needs to be defeated because it is the cause of so much harm in the world right now. You said this paranoia makes those in the United States think they are superior to the people in the Middle East; this is not true. Of course, we have racism in the United States, but there is racism even among the people in the Middle East. 

The paranoia does not make us think we are better, rather it makes us scared. We do not want another September 11, so we secure our airports to an insane degree; we create an entirely new institution called the Homeland Security Department, which — besides being entirely new — is entirely unnecessary; we only slightly complain when our president allows us to be spied on in the interest of national security; and when an Arab owned company tries to buy a British company in order to lease shipping ports, we get scared that US port security has been breached despite the fact that the security of everything to do with US territory remains in the hands of the US Federal Government.

None of this has anything to do with thinking we are better than you; it has everything to do with fear.

What makes this situation even worse is that the current US administration uses this fear to gain support for its agenda which is more than just selfish, but too often downright wrong (as a quick note this agenda is not concerned with just oil). "Oh no!" they yell, "Saddam gassed the Kurds and is stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and has close ties to Al-Qaeda, the group that attacked on 9/11!" "Oh no!" they yell, "The terrorists must be stopped so we need to be able to listen to your phone calls and read your emails without telling anyone to protect you from another 9/11!" 

They move forward tying everything they want to do with national security. "Oh no! Iran is trying to get a nuclear weapon and has even had its Republican Guards conduct operations inside Iraq (which is unconfirmed). Sanctions must be imposed on Iran!" By the way, US rhetoric about Iran is eerily similar to what it was saying about Iraq before we went in.

And since the US populace is so afraid, we go along with all of it. Those that try to speak out are against these actions are called self-hating US citizens, liberal wimps, or just plain un-Americans. So, when Hamas gets elected, and the US government starts talking about a terrorist group getting elected, there is not much of an outcry to give Hamas a chance because we are afraid. Should the United States and the world give Hamas a chance? Absolutely yes. But, fear and its manipulation are preventing that from happening.

It is dangerous to see the US as nothing more than a proud giant. To do so is to forget that the US is made up of people who are simply scared.

Tasneem, do not succumb to the misguided, yet popular belief, that Americans think they are better than everyone else. There are around 295 million people in the United States and while in a population that big you can have millions who think Arabs are crazy nuts, that is not the general view. It is dangerous to see the United States as nothing more than a pompous, proud giant though that is what the current foreign policy suggests. To do so is to forget that the United States is made up of people who, on the whole, are simply scared. 

If people see the United States as nothing but a country with a cocky populace, the paranoia will never be confronted because it will be seen as fruitless to do so. But if people can see us instead as a country being overtaken by fear and, again, its manipulation, the paranoia can be stopped. 

I hope this will happen because right now the world is extremely tense and sensitive to everything. It is rare for someone to have an opinion anymore, yet still be willing to consider further evidence; most views are held tightly and anything that might suggest there is more to the story is seen as an attack. 

Personally, I do not think we can walk the line we have been on for much longer without something falling apart. However, there are many things we can do to calm the situation down. These are not things that in and of themselves will turn everything around, but simply things that can only help the situation. One of them is Hamas recognizing Israel. It can only help, not hurt anything, and it attacks the paranoia of fear. 

Again, I need to clarify. Again, I have more to say.  But again, I am way over my word limit.

David

---

* Your comments are subject to editing and maybe used in IslamOnline.net’s online or print material.

Move to Part Six

The articles posted on this page reflect solely the opinions of the authors. Views Archive Advanced Search Views & Analyses