Monday, December 29, 2008

No Surprises in Gaza

Well, turning on the news this weekend offered me a glimpse of what was happening overseas in the Gaza Strip. I can't say I am surprised. If any American would do a little research on the subject they'd find out enough about Hamas to not only sympathize with Israel's current offensive, but support it. I remember clearly when the Palestinians elected Hamas as their representative government. I remember thinking that they would reap what they had sown sooner or later. We had all seen the news headlines prior to that election: Hamas' terror attacks, kidnappings, brutal violence against Israelis, etc. And even in spite of headway in working toward peace with the Israelis, the Palestinians still chose to back the terrorists. I recall sitting in a graduate seminar with a fellow student and he and I had a stark, yet polite disagreement on the election of Hamas to power. He stated that the world should give Hamas the benefit of the doubt and that they could be a force for good. I told him he was being naive and that a terrorist group who builds hospitals is still a terrorist group. We parted ways with that difference in opinion. I wonder how he feels today. When you willingly put a terrorist regime in power, you put your entire future on the line. I wonder if the Palestinians feel proud to have followed that path.

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