Hamas and Israel, As Seen from the Left

It's been a while since I've read something interesting in Common Dreams. I don't usually go there, unless I see a link to one of their articles from another source. Yesterday's column there by Ira Chernus, a professor of Religious Studies and the University of Colorado at Boulder, is worth a read to get the Left's view of the recent Palestinian Authority election that overwhelmingly gave the victory to Hamas (HT: WorldNetDaily).

The first thing I found in the Chernus column was cynicism.

Before I go on, I want to explain that I have my own well-developed streak of cynicism, but it's tempered by a generally positive disposition. At work, even though I hate my job, I still spend my workdays in a cheerful mood. There is always something to enjoy in life, even if it's fleeting.

But when I read Chernus, I see a cynicism that seems firmly set in a negative, dismal outlook on the world. It can't be much fun to be him when he is looking at Middle East events.

There's plenty of public celebrating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as Hamas relishes its victory. But I suspect that there's plenty of quiet, discrete celebrating going on in Israel, too. Certainly Bibi Netanyahu and his Likud followers must be delighted. The Hamas victory will give them fresh grist for their right-wing, hard-line mill and probably plenty of votes in the upcoming Israeli election.

The idea that he believes Netanyahu is delighted at the Hamas victory is disturbing, especially in light of Netanyahu's statements this past Thursday. But perhaps Chernus sees all events only in a political gain-or-loss context.

A sizeable portion of Israeli Jews are convinced that "the Palestinians" (as if several million people were all one person) really want to destroy the state of Israel. That deep-seated fear, more than anything else, keeps the Israeli public supporting harsh repressive policies in the Occupied Territories.

This statement is indicative of Chernus's predeliction within the column for making vague or unsupported accusations. What "harsh repressive policies in the Occupied Territories" is he talking about? Building a fence to make it harder for terrorists to blow up innocent Israelis? Since many of his readers are not familiar with Israeli policies or Palestinian daily life in a detailed way, it would have been helpful if he had specified a repressive policy or two.

The first statement in that paragraph, though, is even more stunning to me. His wording indicates that Chernus does not actually believe the destruction of Israel is a goal of "the Palestinians." Yet this flies in the face of the stated goal of Hamas (which the Palestinians just elected to govern them) to destroy Israel. And this goal was just reaffirmed by an alleged senior Hamas leader. More from Chernus:

What you won't hear, outside some left-wing Jewish circles (which continue to flourish, thankfully), is the story of how Israeli policies have sustained and promoted Hamas over the years. Israel started funding the fledgling Hamas nearly 30 years ago. Ever since, Israel has supported Hamas. The funding may have stopped (though maybe not; who knows?).

This is news to me, so I did a google search (israel fund hamas). I found one article (25 May 2003) in a website called Emperor's Clothes (dedicated to providing "information and analysis that exposes how the mainstream media deceives people about US foreign policy") that cites a June 18, 2002, UPI article as the source for the claim that Israel funded Hamas. The Emperor's Clothes article takes a step-by-step approach to discrediting the UPI claims of Israeli funding of Hamas. But I'm not sure how credible the Emperor's Clothes website is, since this same article later claims there is a "love affair between the PLO and the CIA."

Google also gave a link to an analysis piece in Prison Planet, which cites a UPI article (broken link) and provides a quote stating that Israel funded Hamas.

All the rest of the google results related to Hamas funding said they got their funds from Iran, Saudi Arabia, expatriate Palestinians, or charities in the US and Europe, including the Holy Land Foundation. Plus, a History of War article on Hamas has no mention of Israeli funding or supportive involvement in Hamas.

My gut reaction to this claim of Israeli funding of Hamas is that it is bogus but so beloved by Israel-haters on the Left, that they accept it as fact. Then again, that may be my own prejudice showing.

When a nation sends its youngsters, day after day, to be persecutors and executioners in an unjust cause, it creates a spiritual wound that can take generations to heal.

This is how the Left sees Israel: "persecuters and executioners in an unjust cause."

Here is how Chernus describes the way Hamas will govern:

It will moderate its rhetoric and its actions. And it will join secret talks with the Israeli government. But in those talks, Israel will be forced to confront the root of the problem -- not "terrorism," but occupation. Hamas never wavers on this point. It insists that all negotiation begin from this basic premise. In other words, it demands that all parties in the negotiation base the talks on reality rather than imagination. That's the only way to create a just and lasting peace.

Not "might moderate" but "will moderate." And the "reality" is that the problem is not terrorism but occupation. The Left sees Palestinian terrorism not as a problem but as the understandable, inevitable reaction to Israel's problem of occupation.

Israel and the U.S. are busy making pompous statements that they simply will not deal with a government that aims to overthrow another nation and relies on armed violence to do it.

By the same principle, of course, a Hamas-led government would have to refuse to deal with the U.S. until its troop leave Iraq--and with Israel until its troops leave Palestine. If you want to see leaders who rely on violence to overthrow and dominate other nations, you need look no further than the U.S. and Israel.

This is the heart of the Left: Excuse terrorists and the governments that support them, and always, always blame the US and Israel.