Writing on the wall

[bemildred]

Few have the nerve to barge in like Dan Kurtzer. If he wanted something off his chest, he'd march into the highest office in the land. In the mid-1980s, as a US diplomat in Tel Aviv, Kurtzer did not like what he saw in Gaza.

"Have you guys lost your minds?," he yelled at then prime minister Shimon Peres's most senior advisers. "Don't you ever learn from history?"

It was apparent to Kurtzer that Israel, despite denials, was nurturing an emerging Islamist movement in Gaza as a foil to Yasser Arafat's secular Fatah movement. "The Islamists were OK as long as they were not shooting and bombing," an official who was stationed in Gaza in the early days of the Israeli occupation explained in a recent interview. Back in 1985, Kurtzer thought the Israelis were kidding themselves.

The feisty American's previous posting had been Cairo - he was there in 1981 when Islamists assassinated President Anwar Sadat. He was monitoring a new group called Hezbollah which had emerged in Lebanon - also Islamist and tied to Iran. "You really think you can tame these guys," Kurtzer asked in disbelief as he left the prime minister's suite.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/writing-on-the-wall/2009/01/09/1231004287036.html

[azurnoir]

1. Just what is the "end game" here for Israel

I found this part particularly disturbing

In Nablus, on the West Bank, long-time Fatah stalwart Abdel Ghani Marmash vowed to switch sides. "I was arrested 19 times by the Israelis ," he said. "But at a time like this, all Palestinians are Hamas. Today I'm honoured to follow the Hamas flag."

If there truly is greater support for Hamas in the long run and not just a heat of the moment thing would that not make all Palestinians appear to be terrorist supporters to the west there by ending any possibility of a two state solution?

[bemildred]

2. Governments always call armed resistance "terrorism".

It means nothing. When governments do the same things, with better weapons and tactics, it's called "restoring order".

It was entirely predictable that this war would shore up support for Hamas, once the IDF decided to go for "shock and awe". Societies under attack always will unite, so long as they retain the means to resist. A less sloppy and more measured attack might have resulted in less of that effect, but the IDF would have to end the siege too.

[wellst0nev0ter]

3. Notice How They Never Funded A Peace Movement

Just violent Islamist movement in order to weaken the PLO? What is their fascination with violence and bloodshed?