notice that I don't bring Hamas into this
I think you'd have every right to. Let me share some thoughts, to me Hamas is a gorilla warfare resistance group to the occupation of Palestine, they're just that and it's all there is to them, they're ridiculous when they think they can be politicians but they went for it and they won by popular vote. One Palestinian guy told me in Abu Dhabi "U.S and Israel gave us a go at democracy through elections but punished us for what we chose. Why did they even let us go through with it? And now even the people who initially voted for Hamas can't stand them anymore due to the horrific living conditions people have come to in Gaza under the Israeli blockade, with you guys making it easier for them of course", his last line was referring to Egyptians and I remember that conversation so clearly cause I was very embarrassed -like most Egyptians still are- for our role in the blockade.
But Hamas gets their popular strength through Israel, no doubt about that. People wouldn't vote for them and put up with all their crap if they didn't signify the last symbol of dignified Palestinian defiance. The occupation is still in living memory and realistically speaking; this is still about freedom.
It's also why most Arabs view them as more legit than PLO. As a government that came by popular vote or a gorilla resistance movement that never had new ideas or changed their minds about anything.
I personally want Hamas gone SO THINGS CAN MOVE THE FUCK ALONG FROM THIS POINT and I think the only way to do it is for Israel to show more compassionate appeal and peer-to-peer approach for co-existence. Also as long as Jerusalem is under sole Israeli control; Hamas or other groups that will emerge after will keep fighting. Jerusalem is a holy city for me as well but I frankly hate it with passion for all the blood that's been shed for it.
Also I don't view Zionism, inherent to its nature, as being racist. What it has become is racist, but let's separate that from the sort of Zionist ideal I or someone else might hold. I don't believe Israelis are superior to Palestinians, I just want for both states to coexist peacefully. That's partly why I like Salam Fayad's idea that neither side should unilaterally declare statehood or work it out through negotiations, but allow it to emerge gradually on its own through strong governance and economic development.
That idea is very unrealistic to me since:
- The Israeli right -which we have only been dealing with for as long as I remember- will hear it out and then say "Haha where did you get your stash? That's quality stuff".
- The Israeli people who either live in the west most of their lives or live in the very solid middle class lives in Israel, which include high education and facilities for learning everything, let alone having internet heh, would be so far ahead of the Palestinians to "gradually emerge through strong governance and economic development", given that the Palestinians have been hardly getting an decent affordable access to education unless they travel abroad in which cases they usually don't go back.
Trying to implement that would be like an African American trying to apply to the same job as his previous owner a week after he's been freed. We're both just walking in and may the best man win!
I keep going for too long and I keep going back and clipping to keep from entering the tl;dr realm.
And now, for a little bit of a lighthearted take by Jon Stewart:
https://www.hulu.com/watch/336830/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-words-of-warcraft#s-p1-sr-i1
Hilarious but also with a lot of truth. At least in the Iranian and American fronts. But why would the current Israeli government be waving a war card to win the upcoming elections? I thought the violent aspect is what made them unpopular is Israel in the first place! I've seen Israeli protests against them and Adami obviously doesn't like them.