by Edwin A. Locke
There will be no peace in the Middle East unless secular freedom rather than theocratic despotism becomes the Palestinians’ guiding philosophy.
Much of the world is pressuring Israel once again to negotiate with Hamas as a means of ending the conflict. This is a hopeless quest. Negotiation pre-supposes that both parties share common moral values and compatible goals. But the two sides are not morally equivalent. Hamas is a ruthless authoritarian regime who has had hundreds of his own people tortured or killed. It is and always has been a terrorist organization. It has never sought peaceful co-existence with Israel but only its destruction.
The Palestinians are the initiators of the violence–an indiscriminate violence in which they do not care whom they kill, whether soldier, civilian or child. Israel, in contrast, is acting in self-defense, in retaliation for such terrorism. And its response is aimed at those responsible for the violence and at the facilities from which they operate. Any non-combatants killed in the process are not the targets of the retaliation; they are put as risk by Hamas hiding among them and their blood is on the terrorists’ hands.[1]
The Palestinian government and its supporters are not seeking to gain their freedom–they are unequivocal enemies of freedom. They, along with the rest of the Arab world, reject the whole concept of rights on principle. Every Arab country is a monarchy, theocracy or military dictatorship. Freedom of speech, property rights, free elections, and the separation of church and state are almost non-existent. Speaking out against the rulers or against the Muslim religion leads to imprisonment or death. All attempts to start competing political parties are ruthlessly crushed.
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