Arab Summit, Iranian Agenda -Jonathan Spyer
The Palestinian cause - the great self-proclaimed moral flagship of Arab politics - is currently the subject of a hostile takeover bid by Iran and its clients. The Iranian-armed and sponsored Hamas enclave in Gaza has successfully suppressed its internal rivals and defended its existence against Israel.
There are now in effect two Palestinian national movements. One of them [Hamas] is ideologically strong and hungry, favors Israel's destruction, and is supported by Iran. The other [Fatah] is old and tired, propped up by vast amounts of Western funding. The former is in the process of trying to devour the latter, and may succeed.
One might conclude that Iran is developing into a vast, looming power, about to overshadow the region. But Iran's advances are testimony not to the great strength and vitality of the Tehran regime, but rather to the weakness of Arab states and political cultures.
Iran dreams of a bloc of Muslim states led by a nuclear Iran, challenging Israel's existence and American power. But Iran will always suffer from a "legitimacy gap" in the Arab world. It will always be perceived as a foreign, frightening power by many non-Shi'ite Arabs.
(Ha'aretz)
[Top: anti-Shia Sunni poster]
[Bottom: Percentage of Sunni & Shia in various countries]
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2 comments:
Hamas officials have in the past indicated their willingness to end hostilities toward Israel within the context of the international consensus: mutual recognition on the pre-June 1967 borders, compensation for refugees, and end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. To say they want to destroy Israel (not that they even have the capability of doing this) is taking their rhetoric way too seriously, it seems its assuming that every scenario is a potential Holocaust, every enemy a new Hitler, which is a very partisan, and ultimately confused, way of viewing things. Politicians say stupid things to please their base, Sharon was well known for this, but they are almost always rational individuals concerned with advancing their own interests.
Anyways, with Iran, Iran and Hamas are not natural allies. The support Iran gives Hamas has more to do with their shared isolation by the west and Iran's desire to become the leader of the Muslim world. The easiest way to undermine Iran's position would be to pursue a just settlement of the conflict, or to at least seriously engage in Hamas in negotiations.
In case you haven't noticed, Hamas is not interested in ending hostilities. They thrive off of hostilities. Your odd faith in Hamas sounds suspiciously similar to Jimmy Carter's.
While you are correct that Hamas does not currently pose an existential threat to Israel, they can not be allowed to toss rockets into Israel. With a nuclear Iran, Hamas may soon have the capacity to destroy Israel. Imagine Iran shipping nuclear material thru those lovely tunnels.
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