Stripped of its freight of rhetoric and emotion, this article boils down to "If there is a solution... it lies in the defeat of ... Hamas... rejection of all peace offers and methods ... fighting Hamas and negotiating with Fatah" (edited to get rid of all the superfluous guff).

It has been suggested that in the 1970s Israel encouraged the establishment of what became Hamas as a counterweight to the left-wing secular Fatah faction of the PLO. For details see here: http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2002/06/18/Analysis_Hamas_history_tied_to_Israel/UPI-82721024445587/2/

I find it astonishing that Judi Hall can laud the peace-loving Fatah, when Israel spent decades denouncing the PLO (and Fatah leader Yasser Arafat) as fanatical terrorists who they couldn't negotiate with.

So repeat after me:
"We are now at war with Eastasia (Hamas). We have always been at war with Eastasia (Hamas)."

Isn't it amazing that Israel with the best US weapons technology and military grade GPS which, under the clear skies of the Middle East gives unerring accuracy, cannot avoid bombing schools, hospitals, apartment blocks, ambulances and UN facilities in Gaza and Lebanon? Olmert says the bombing of the UN HQ in Gaza city was "a grave (sic!) mistake".
Given that the technology works and the IDF are superbly well trained, we must conclude that this total disregard for international law was deliberate. Imagine if Hamas had access to the same $2.4 billion of US annual weapons aid as Israel plus 200 nuclear bombs with which to threaten the region. Instead of 13 Israelis killed since 2001 the death toll would be astronomical (always assuming that Hamas matched the Israelis' blood lust); for every Israeli death about 100 Palestinians are killed.

Many will simply ignore this but in October 2007 an Israeli correspondent suggested that the reason for the ongoing Israeli sanctions was to provoke Palestinian militants into a military response.

"As such, the real aim of this effort is twofold: to attempt a new form of "escalation" as a response to aggression from Gaza, before Israel embarks on a major military operation there; and to prepare the ground for a more clear-cut isolation of the Gaza Strip - limiting to an absolute minimum Israel's obligation toward the Palestinians there."

"This will be a "dirty war," very aggressive, that will have scenes of destruction similar to southern Lebanon in 2006. The sole exception: unlike in Lebanon, the population there has nowhere to run."

"Defense sources say the sanctions will lead the militants to intensify their attacks to show that they do not succumb to Israeli pressure. And because the sanctions will not be severe - so as not to create a humanitarian crisis - they will not be effective. It is actually expected that the gasoline shortage will have a greater effect than the disruptions in the electricity supply - which normally happens because of equipment breakdowns."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/917385.html

The timing? Probably due to that vague period between Bush and Obama being in control. One has no authority and the other can stay non-committal.

There was talk about Israel using this period to attack Iran but they were specifically warned off this option by the US.

Oh, and rpg - for the record, the Hamas rockets weren't "non-stop for years". In spite of the ongoing sanctions, they only resumed after an Israeli military incursion into Palestinian territory and the first rockets that were fired didn't actually come from Gaza but from the West Bank.

Leah Rachel

'Could SJF possibly pick and publish for us some parts that do illustrate Hamas' committment to peace and human rights? Might take a while to find....'

No problem. Here's a few ...

'Man is a strange and miraculous being, made out of a handful of clay and a breath of soul... So, books, articles, publications, religious exhortations, epistles, songs, poems, hymns, plays, and the like, if they possess the characteristics of Islamic art, have the requisites of ... a continuous nurturing in the pursuance of the journey, and of relaxing the soul.' (Article 19)

'Social solidarity consists of extending help to all the needy, both materially and morally... The members of Hamas must share with the people its joys and sorrows, and adopt the demands of the people and anything likely to fulfill its interests and theirs. When this spirit reigns, congeniality will deepen, cooperation and compassion will prevail ...' (Article 21)

'[Hamas] values every kind word, every devoted effort and every commendable endeavor. It closes the door before marginal quarrels, it does not heed rumors and biased statements, and it is aware of the right of self-defense.' (Article 25)

'Jihad means not only carrying arms and denigrating the enemies. Uttering positive words, writing good articles and useful books, and lending support and assistance, all that too is Jihad in the path of Allah ...' (Article 30)

'Wisdom is roaming around, and the Believer ought to grasp it wherever he can find it.' (Article 24)

Get the picture? The object of this exercise is to show that selective cherry-picking of quotes can make any piece of writing look either evil or good.

>>Isn't it amazing that Israel with the best US weapons technology and military grade GPS which, under the clear skies of the Middle East gives unerring accuracy, cannot avoid bombing schools, hospitals, apartment blocks, ambulances and UN facilities in Gaza and Lebanon? Olmert says the bombing of the UN HQ in Gaza city was "a grave (sic!) mistake".

Given that the technology works and the IDF are superbly well trained, we must conclude that this total disregard for international law was deliberate.<<

voltaire,

Besides the well-publicised fact that the UN building got hit (about the only way the risk-averse UN could ever be prodded into making a statement against Israel), I saw on a news report the bombing of a building in Gaza with it in ruins and neighbouring "non-targets", including shops and a children's playground, indirectly badly damaged by the blast. So the GPS technology is certainly accurate enough.

My guess is that the Israeli airforce is not using the right size ordinance for the job. They probably have a warehouse full of old bombs, mainly designed for other types of warfare, that they want to get rid of. Israel's commanders would know what sort of damage the bombs would do in a very built-up area. So, they are being either careless, reckless or maybe even deliberate.

SJF

The very idea that because there are a few lovey dovey words in the Hamas Charter, that that their presence somehow cancels out the other odious and anti semitic bile, is just rubbish. One clause doesnt diminish or expand the other.

Each Clause stands on its own merits/demerits, and existence of what you call cherry picking doesnt change the fact that the others exist and are part of the Charter

Further the foundational basis of the Hamas Charter is the Koranic trilogy, whose violence and hatred for the kuffar and all things jewish is well documented.

Try this for size

http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/28244/sec_id/28244.

Or just look at one Hadith

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim).

The implication is clear: Allah promised that the Jews will be murdered, and the Hamas "aspires to the realisation of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take."

The intention is pretty dam clear