Why Do the U.S. and Israel Love Hamas So Much?

It is now common knowledge that, from the time of Hamas's formation, the Israeli government played a major role in building it up as a "safer" alternative to Fatah. In the 1970s and 1980s, successive Israeli governments feared that Fatah was moving in a "moderate" direction at that, accordingly, Israel would be pressured to recognize it.

To avoid that contingency, Israel started promoting the Muslim Brotherhood's franchise in the occupied territories, the newly established Hamas. The Israelis viewed Hamas as purely a religious movement whose membership would devote themselves to praying and not politics. So they made life easier for Hamas leaders while doing whatever they could to destroy Fatah.

The Israeli government has always demonstrated a preference for Palestinian extremists over Palestinian moderates. It is infinitely easier to resist negotiations with those whose stated ideology is wishing Israel dead than with those -- as has been the case with Fatah since 1988 -- who declared willingness to live in peace alongside Israel.

Most recently -- and tragically -- this preference was demonstrated when the Sharon government refused to negotiate Israel's withdrawal from Gaza with the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas. Although Abbas warned that, without Israeli-PA coordination, Hamas would move in and take Gaza, the Israelis refused to discuss any of the details of their withdrawal with the PA, including its timing. As the PA predicted, when the IDF pulled out, Hamas took over -- leading to the rocket attacks on Sderot, the 2009 war, and the continuing blockade of Gaza.

The Israeli tilt toward Hamas was again demonstrated vividly last week. The Israeli government released 20 Palestinian women prisoners to Hamas in exchange for the Gilad Shalit video. The Israeli government repeatedly refuses to make any large scale release of Palestinian prisoners to President Abbas but clearly has no similar reservations about Hamas, with whom it has been discussing massive prisoner exchanges for three years. Even more telling, in 2008 they released the notorious terrorist, Samir Kuntar, and four Hezbollah fighters to Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers.

Then there is the issue of the settlement freeze. It has been promised to the Palestinian Authority for 15 years but, nonetheless, settlements keep expanding. Even after President Obama personally demanded the freeze to kick start negotiations, Prime Minister Netanyahu simply ignored him. President Abbas, who had publicly expressed confidence in Obama and his ability to achieve the freeze, looked helpless.

But the worst humiliation of all came when the United States, at Israel's insistence, pressed the Palestinian Authority to request deferral of a United Nations Human Rights Council discussion of the Goldstone report on Israeli (and Hamas) human rights violations during the Gaza war. It would have been bad enough if the United States itself requested that consideration of the Goldstone report be deferred but, that not being enough, we had the Palestinian Authority do it. The UN agreed.

This may be the last straw for the PA, or close to it. Asking the United Nations not to address crimes directed against its own people makes the Palestinian Authority look like quislings -- especially to the people of Gaza who were the victims of the Israeli onslaught.

I suppose the Palestinian Authority had good reason for agreeing to Israel's request (conveyed by the United States). I imagine that the United States threatened to apply the kind of pressure on the Palestinians for not agreeing to postpone an investigation into crimes against them that we do not apply to Israel on settlements.

Is it any wonder that so many Palestinians view Hamas and even Hezbollah as able to "deliver" while they view Abbas and the PA as unable to extract much of anything from the Israelis or their superpower backer?

Why do they think that? Simply because it's true. What, in God's name, are we thinking?

Crossposted from Palestine Note.

Comments

[altohone]

Israel announced the diplomatic effort to block the report.
Strange for them to announce this to begin with... but now it may be it was just cover for their not-necess­arily-dipl­omatic other prong of the offensive.

Diplomacy doesn't seem to be what motivated Abbas.

[Wisdo]

Excellent article. These facts ought to be more widely known. Israel has always practised a "divide and conquer" policy with the Palestinians.

Israel has no interest in Peace. Peace is dangerous for the Dream of a Greater Israel, amongst the Jewish supremacists who run Israel.

[alexa07]

"I suppose the Palestinian Authority had good reason for agreeing to Israel's request (conveyed by the United States). I imagine that the United States threatened to apply the kind of pressure on the Palestinians for not agreeing to postpone an investigation into crimes against them that we do not apply to Israel on settlements."

The actions of Abbas & the PA are outrageous, but the actions of the Obama adm are even more so. Not only outrageous, but very self-defeating. If it is also true that they have agreed to continue the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of pretending Israel's multiple nuclear weapons do NOT exist, they have absolutely ruined for themselves any resolution for peace in the region. Thank you Mr. R. for yet another informative article that connects the facts with the major thematics.

[wags101]

Israel has never wanted a partner for peace. They always want someone they can blame for more land grabs and bringing wars on themselves. It's their game plan. Make conditions so intolerable that they will respond by lobbing a little rock on a slingshot and that will justify an invasion and more ethnic cleansing. Soon all the land will be theirs. They miscalculation is in thinking the world is going to standby and let it happen.

[pgmark]

As per usual when you question Mr Rosenberg's position - it does not get posted. Shame on you HP? I get posted with everyone else but you. Mr Rosenberg - my question is simple - why and how do you pick your topics. They do seem out there - I just don't get your take they don't seem based in reality. Please send me a response.

As I said before my daughter often quotes the Talmud -
We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are."

[arvay]

This author is spot on.

But I suspect the Israeli leadership long ago selected the apocalyptic option.

That's what those 200 nuclear weapons are for. . . .

[arvay]

This author is spot on.

But I suspect the Israeli leadership long ago selected the apocalyptic option.

That's what those 200 nuclear weapons are for.

[Garioch]

It's been pointed out many times in the past that it's always been in the Israeli leaderships interests to have someone they can point to as being impossible to negotiate with.
The entire history of the process has shown that every time the Palestinian representation meet one Israeli demand this is immediately dismissed as another takes it's place while simultaneously undermining any moderate voices with Israeli actions intended to force the initiative back to the extremists. It meets the objective of always having an excuse.
Now with all Israeli governments having to rely on the extremist religious and/ or settler parties there is little chance of change which is of course a pity as in the long term it is of course not in their interests.
You can now expect a host of comments claiming that because you criticize policy you are anti Semitic and more than a few mentioning Eretz Israel. I assume you expect and are ready for this.

[digdeeper]

Good post.
I have posted many times about the Zionists intransigence to come to the peace table. They will use Hamas, Iran in fact anything to gain time in order to build more settlements on the west bank and encircle E Jeruselam. Then engineer more time wasting in order to start evicting palestinians from E Jeruselem itself. The rest of the world wring their hands and do nothing.
Such injustice from a so called democratic western world. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

[leutenizer]

If the authors logic made any sense, Mr. Abbas would have something to show for his appeasement policies.
Like Brithish FM Mr. Chamberlain (in 1938), Abbas has nothing to show except more destruction of his homeland and its people.

[Princeton123]

In return US/ Israel let Abbas keep his job as president. As the occupiers, they have the power to delegitimize Hamas even when they won the election fair and square.

[S1m0n]

Mahmoud Abbas' term as president has expired, and his party lost the most recent election. Why is the UN talking to him at all, let alone acting like he speaks for the Palestian people. He lost, and has no mandate to do anything.

[BADRALDUJA]

god knowa,,its callled hypocrisy,,and shows that the rest of the world decides who runs the palestinian pleople..but one day every oppressorr will bite their hands in fear.

[vascopyjama]

We told the Palestinians that they need to hold elections, but then they elected people we don't like even though Israel helped bring Hamas into being in the first place.

[digdeeper]

But we all know why don't we

[eileenflemingWAWA]

Hamas was democratically and transparently elected in 2006 because Palestinian civil society was fed up with the PA, which is just another layer of the Occupation.

The true voice of Palestine is Palestinian Civil Society, and they have issued the Call for BDS: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights.

"Only progressive forces in civil society recognize the symbolic battlefield of morality and the legitimacy war. Shifting expectations from institutions and government onto the global battlefield of legitimacy will determine destiny.

"There is potency in nonviolence as proved by Gandhi...It is the Politics of Impossibility that can project the unimaginable. No one expected Nelson Mandela to be released from jail or the collapse of the USSR.

"This set of circumstances requires the art of the impossible and the war is waged in the consciences of people which makes it so powerful.

"The traditional institutions are limp and the UN Charter is an illusion as a way forward in the conflict. That is the signal to Civil Society to act..."-Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

Excerpted from "The Politics of Impossibility on the Battleground of Moral Legitimacy with the Goal of a Just Peace in Palestine Israel"
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1447&Itemid=225

[bermanator]

If by "transparently elected" you mean "elected through the defenestration of the opposition", I'll agree with you.

[guajiro]

While the pro-war, hardliners in Israel may indeed use Hamas to justify their militant policies, I wouldn't go as far as to call it love when the U.S. and Israel both concede to certain Hamas dictates. Hamas has the backing of the Palestinian people more so than the PA. They are the one's who take arms to defend the people more so than the PA and so have more credibility with them. If I wanted to negotiate ANYTHING with a people I would do it with it's leaders NOT the bogus leader.

[digdeeper]

It doesn't matter what you think friend. The fact is that the Zionists will find a way NOT to come to the table. Why should they, they have all their own way by doing nothing.