Move to nonviolence?

Editorial

A radicalization of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and claims that Hamas is considering renouncing violence should both be viewed with the cynical eye they deserve.

So-called “price tag” attacks, in which extremists among the settler population destroy Arab property, are criminal acts, as well as political ones, which is the definition of terrorism. Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak have made appropriate noises in this regard and they should act accordingly and quickly. The earliest history of the state of Israel rightly, if painfully, affirmed that there is only one source of law and justice in the country and, here, Israel faces another challenge. This is a matter of justice, as well as a test of Israel’s resolve and reputation as the oasis in its region for the rule of law.

The other news is a report from the defence and security intelligence analysis agency IHS Jane’s, which suggests, incredibly, that Hamas is preparing to renounce violence.

Well, that’s part of the report. There is a suggestion that Hamas might add “nonviolent” resistance to its portfolio of unrelenting violence, whatever “nonviolent” means when used by a group dedicated to death and destruction.

The Jane’s report and the commentary that has greeted it have noted that the position of Hamas has altered significantly since the Arab Spring. The Iranian-Syrian axis that has sustained Hamas’ access to weaponry is broken because of Hamas’ ambivalence in defending their longtime partner-in-crime Bashir al-Assad, who is engaged in a systematic mass killing of his protesting citizens. Whether for ideological or pragmatic motivations, Hamas is trying to associate itself in the public imagination with the “new” Arab world of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, as demonstrated by the flags at a mass rally in Gaza last week.

It is also part of an attempt to come to terms with Fatah, which controls the West Bank. Israel has said it will not negotiate with a Palestinian entity that does not reject violence, while the two Palestinian parties have been trying to reconcile. Fatah, in generous interpretations, is the moderate entity with which Israel can negotiate, while Hamas is the terrorist entity.

Stories of impending renunciation of violence bore no resemblance to developments in Gaza last week. Celebrating the 24th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, an estimated 300,000 people, including the de rigueur masked men bearing AK-47s, chanting, “We will not recognize Israel.”

The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, celebrated its quarter-century of triumph, specifically: 11,093 rockets fired into Israel, 1,117 armed attacks, 87 suicide bombings, 1,365 Israelis killed, 1,848 Hamas “martyrs.”

This does not sound like a movement on the cusp of peace.

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