[News] Chronology of the Latest in the Middle East

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.counterpunch.org/lin07252006.html

July 25, 2006

Who Started It?

Chronology of the Latest Crisis in the Middle East

By SHARAT G. LIN

The Bush administration, Congress, and the press 
repeatedly  echo the Israeli 
government’s  position that the current warfare 
between Israel versus Palestinians and Lebanese 
is a consequence of the “kidnapping” of  Israeli 
Corporal Gilad Shalit by Hamas-led militants on 
June 25, 2006 and the “abduction” of two more 
Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on July 12, 
2006.  Yet every hostile action in this part of 
the Middle East is seen by someone as a response 
to a prior action by the other side.  The only 
logical starting point for objectively examining 
the sequence of causes and effects is to begin 
with a watershed event that was clearly 
independent of any preceding military or 
political provocation.  In 2006 that event was 
the Palestinian elections of January 25.

A careful examination of the sequence of events 
reveals that every significant military action by 
a Palestinian or Lebanese militia was clearly in 
response to desperate conditions imposed on 
Palestinians by Israel.  While one may not 
condone many of these actions because they result 
in the loss of life, they must be understood in 
the context of the entire crisis in this part of 
the Middle East and the living conditions of 
Palestinians, many of whom have been exiled from 
their ancestral homes since the U.N. partition of Palestine in 1948.

Chronology of Crisis

The following chronology of major events was 
compiled from Associated Press, New York Times, 
Financial Times, The Observer, and other established news agencies.

January 20, 2005

Facing mounting criticism of his conduct of the 
war in Iraq and “the war on terror”, President 
George W. Bush at his second inaugural address 
tries to give a positive face to his 
administration by adding “promotion of democracy” 
as new cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.  He 
says, “So it is the policy of the United States 
to seek and support the growth of democratic 
movements and institutions in every nation and 
culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny 
in our world.”  An outcome of this policy was the 
encouragement given to Hamas to participate in future Palestinian elections.

mid-January 2006

Public-opinion polls in Palestine continue to 
suggest that Fatah will win the most seats in the 
elections for the Palestinian parliament.  The 
polls indicate that Hamas could win more than one-third of the seats.

January 25, 2006

Israel seals off Gaza by closing the Erez border 
crossing into Gaza in anticipation of security 
concerns leading up to Palestinian 
elections.  Karni crossing was closed on January 
15, 2006, and three other commercial crossings 
have been opened only intermittently.  The 
impoverished Gaza Strip is critically dependent 
on imports of food, fuel, medicines, and other 
essential commodities brought in through 
Israeli-controlled border crossings.  Gaza 
residents were equally dependent on the border 
crossings to get to their jobs in Israel before 
that avenue of employment was cut off by Israeli authorities.

(The entire Gaza Strip is surrounded by concrete 
walls and high fencing.  Israel controls all 
access into and out of Gaza, including the Rafah 
crossing between Gaza and Egypt.  Palestinian 
access to the sea is strictly controlled by the 
Israeli navy.  Palestinian air traffic is banned.)

Palestinians go to the polls to elect a new 
parliament – the Palestinian Legislative Council.

January 26

The preliminary election results are 
announced.  Hamas wins 76 of the 132 seats, an 
absolute majority.  Fatah wins only 
43.  International observers declare the 
elections to be free and fair.  The later final 
tally will be 74 seats for Hamas.

February 12

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think 
tank in Washington, DC, says that democracy 
should no longer be an immediate goal of U.S. 
foreign policy.  Other think tanks, such as the 
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, follow 
suit later in the month by attacking the 
administration’s commitment to promoting elections.

February 13

Israeli officials and Western diplomats reveal 
that Israel and the United States are discussing 
ways to destabilize the newly-elected Palestinian 
government.  The intention is to starve the 
Palestinian Authority (PA) of money and 
international connections until President Mahmoud 
Abbas is compelled to call a new election.

February 18

The new Palestinian parliament is sworn in by 
President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.  With many 
Palestinian legislators in Gaza banned by Israel 
from travelling to the West Bank, they have to 
settle for participating via a video link.

February 19

Israel cuts off approximately $50 million in 
monthly customs and tax revenues that it collects 
for the Palestinian Authority.  The money is 
essential to pay the salaries of 160,000 
Palestinian government employees, including 
58,000 police and security personnel.

The U.S. government backs Israel by announcing 
that it too is likely to cut off aid to the 
Palestinian Authority until the new Hamas 
government recognizes Israel and disarms its commandos.

March 5

Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is sworn in as 
prime minister to head the next 
government.  Branding it a “terrorist authority”, 
both the U.S. and Israeli governments refuse to 
constructively engage a new Palestinian 
government jointly led by a Fatah president and a Hamas-led cabinet.

March 10

U.S. officials pressure independent “moderate” 
politicians not to serve in a Hamas-led 
government.  The Bush administration’s strategy 
is to force Hamas to govern alone, hoping to 
isolate it politically when its government 
eventually fails under the cut-off of tax revenues and western aid.

March 14

When British prison monitors were suddenly 
ordered to leave their posts supervising six 
high-profile Palestinian detainees in Jericho, 
Israel besieged the prison compound with tanks, 
taking the six detainees into their custody.  One 
of those seized was Ahmed Sa’adat of the secular 
left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of 
Palestine (PFLP), who had won a seat in the 
Palestinian election in January.  It is widely 
believed that the sudden withdrawal of the 
British prison monitors was calculated to give 
Israeli forces a pretext to seize the detainees 
by force from PA custody.  The coordinated 
British and Israeli actions sparked widespread outrage throughout Palestine.

March 19

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh proposes a 
24-member cabinet made of Hamas members, Fatah 
members and independents having been deterred from joining by U.S. pressure.

With the nearly 1.4 million Gaza residents facing 
severe shortages of bread, milk, and other 
essential commodities, Israeli and Palestinian 
negotiators reach a tentative agreement to open 
one border crossing into Gaza near kibbutz Kerem 
Shalom to allow humanitarian aid to enter the 
densely-populated Palestinian enclave from Egypt.

April 7

The U.S. and EU formally cut off all direct aid 
to the Hamas-led government, demanding that Hamas 
recognize Israel, honor previous PA agreements, 
and disarm its commandos.  They say that they 
will redirect some aid to humanitarian projects 
that bypass the PA.  The U.S. decision affects 
$411 million previously earmarked for the PA to 
maintain services in the impoverished Palestinian 
territories, and about $100 million to be 
redirected to food and medicines delivered through international agencies.

May 7

The PA defaults on two months of salary payments 
for its 160,000 government employees.

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the 
West Bank continues to deteriorate, the U.S. and 
EU search for ways to resume international aid 
while bypassing Hamas.  They consider channelling 
aid through the office of President Mahmoud Abbas 
in cooperation with the World Bank, IMF, and United Nations.

May 18

Starved of income, facing daily food shortages, 
and virtually imprisoned within the boundaries of 
Gaza, residents are becoming desperate for a 
resolution of the impasse.  Amid rising unrest, 
competing Hamas and Fatah forces attempt to 
assert their presences by parading around with 
arms.  In the following weeks, Hamas and Fatah 
militias engage in intermittent shootouts, some bloody.

May 29

Israeli ground troops enter Gaza for the first 
time since withdrawing eight months ago.  They 
kill four Palestinians, including a policeman.

June 5

President Mahmoud Abbas announces a referendum 
scheduled for July 26th on a plan that would 
implicitly recognize Israel.  Hamas opposes the referendum.

June 7

After negotiations between Hamas and Fatah aimed 
at halting weeks of bloody infighting, the 
Hamas-led government agrees to withdraw 
controversial private militias from public spaces in Gaza.

June 8

A midnight Israeli missile attack in southern 
Gaza kills four Palestinian members of the 
Popular Resistance Committees, including Jamal 
Abu Samhadana, who had recently been appointed to 
be inspector general in the Interior 
Ministry.  Israel has blamed Samhadana for 
attacking a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Gaza in 
2003, although his group has denied involvement.

June 9

In response to Israeli missile attacks, 
Palestinian militants fire small crude Qassam 
rockets into Israel towards Ashkelon, but no Israelis are hurt.

Israeli artillery shelling, ostensibly aimed at 
Qassam rocket launch sites, kills 7 civilians on 
a northern Gaza beach, including a Palestinian 
family having a picnic with their 3 small 
children.  Israel claims it was an 
accident.  Other Israeli rocket attacks kill 
another 9 Palestinians, and injure at least 30 in Gaza.

In response, the Hamas government vows to end its 
official 16-month ceasefire with Israel.

June 10

Hamas forces fire at least 15 Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel.

June 11

An Israeli air strike kills two Hamas commandos 
in Gaza.  Palestinians respond with more Qassam rockets.

June 12

Palestinian security forces loyal to President 
Mahmoud Abbas open fire with small arms on the 
parliament building and cabinet offices in 
Ramallah before setting the buildings on 
fire.  The action is a retaliation for an attack by Hamas commandos in Gaza.

June 14

Angry Palestinian government employees, who have 
not been paid for months, storm their parliament 
in Ramallah, demanding back pay.

A bit of temporary relief comes when the 
Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, 
returns to Gaza carrying $20 million in cash 
euros after a trip seeking emergency funds from foreign governments.

Fatah and Hamas reach an agreement to integrate a 
3,000-man militia formed by the Hamas-controlled 
interior ministry into the Fatah-dominated national police.

June 15

Palestinians fire Qassam rockets into the Israeli town of Sederot.

Hamas announces its willingness to reinstate the 
16-month ceasefire if Israel will stop all 
attacks on Gaza and the West Bank.  Israel 
refuses, demanding that the Palestinian rocket attacks stop first.

June 21

At least a dozen more Palestinian civilians are 
killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza over an 8-day period.

June 25

Palestinian commandos kill two Israeli soldiers 
and capture Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit after 
tunnelling 300 yards into Israel from 
Gaza.  Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees, 
and the Army of Islam participate in the raid 
south of kibbutz Kerem Shalom, just north of the Egyptian border.

Shalit is the first Israeli soldier captured by 
Palestinians since 1994.  Hamas government 
spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, publicly urges the 
captors to “protect his life and treat him well.”

Israel closes all border crossings into 
Gaza.  Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert holds the PA fully responsible.

June 26

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warns of military action.

Palestinian captors demand that Israel release 
all 95 Palestinian women and 313 youths under age 
18 held in Israeli prisons in exchange for the 
release of Corporal Shalit.  A total of over 
9,500 Palestinians (excluding those who are 
Israeli citizens) are known to be held in Israeli prisons.

June 27

Fatah and Hamas are compelled into unity in the 
face of looming full-scale war.  They adopt a 
common political platform that includes an 
implicit recognition of the state of Israel by 
Hamas.  The so-called Prisoners Document calls 
for the creation of a Palestinian state within 
pre-1967 borders, alongside Israel, and asserts 
the right of Palestinian refugees to return to lands within Israel proper.

Israeli troops and armor move in force into southern Gaza.

June 28

The Popular Resistance Committees kill one Israeli settler near Ramallah.

June 29

Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers roll into 
northern Gaza.  Israeli aircraft bomb three 
bridges at Deir al-Balah and the former 
settlement of Netzarim.  They also destroy Gaza’s 
sole power station that supplies half of Gaza’s 
electricity.  Israel begins shelling Beit Hanoun 
and Beit Lahiya in Gaza.  Israeli missiles target 
the Islamic University in Gaza City.

Israel arrests Deputy Prime Minister Nasser 
Shaer, one-third of the Palestinian cabinet, 
including Labor Minister Mohammed Barghouti and 
Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razak, and 20 
Palestinian legislators in Ramallah, Jenin, East 
Jerusalem, and other parts of the West 
Bank.  President Mahmoud Abbas appeals to the 
United Nations for help in obtaining their 
release.  In all, 87 Palestinians are detained in the West Bank.

PA government leaders join in the demand that 
Israel release all women and children prisoners 
in exchange for Corporal Shalit.

Israeli Justice Minister, Haim Ramon, suggests 
that the Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, exiled in 
Syria, is a target for assassination.  Other 
Israeli officials suggest that Prime Minister 
Ismail Haniyeh could also be seized in Gaza, or 
even assassinated if Corporal Shalit is not returned.

June 30

Israeli warplanes strike the Palestinian Interior 
Ministry building, setting it on 
fire.  Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft and artillery 
continue to shower southern Gaza.

July 2

Under mounting pressure from U.N. 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and international 
aid agencies concerned about the looming 
humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israel 
temporarily opened the border crossings at Karni 
and Kerem Shalom to allow trucks carrying food, 
fuel, and medical supplies to enter Gaza after being sealed for a week.

July 3

After Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he 
intended to make the lives of Gaza residents ever 
more miserable until Corporal Shalit is returned, 
Israeli forces intensified their attacks on 
Gaza.  Israeli aircraft bomb Gaza City, hitting 
the local Fatah party office and the offices of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

July 6

With Israel escalating its rocket attacks and 
advancing into densely-populated areas of Gaza, 
16 Palestinians are killed.  One Israeli soldier also dies.

July 7

The European Union, issuing its strongest 
criticism yet, states; “The EU condemns the loss 
of lives caused by disproportionate use of force 
by the Israeli Defence Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated.”

Facing mounting international criticism for its 
invasion of Gaza, Israeli Public Security 
Minister Avi Dichter indicates for the first time 
that Israel might be willing to free Palestinian 
prisoners in exchange for the release of Corporal Shalit.

July 8

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh calls for a 
ceasefire to halt the Israeli offensive in 
Gaza.  Israel rejects the Palestinian offer, 
demanding that Palestinians first return the 
captured Israeli soldier and halt rocket attacks into southern Israel.

July 9

The Palestinian death toll due to Israel’s Gaza offensive surpasses 50.

July 12

Responding to the mounting carnage in Gaza, and 
the Israeli seizure of much of the Palestinian 
government leadership, the Lebanese Hezbollah 
militia engages in border skirmishes with Israeli 
troops. In the ensuing battle, Hezbollah forces 
kill 3 Israeli soldiers and capture two.  With 
Israeli forces in hot pursuit into Lebanon, 
another 5 Israeli soldiers die.  Hezbollah 
casualties were not immediately announced.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responds by saying, 
“Lebanon is responsible and Lebanon will bear the consequences of its actions.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora calls for an 
urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, 
appealing for help in preventing the impending Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

July 13

Israel responds with military assaults from the 
air, land, and sea into southern Lebanon.  Its 
combat operations in southern Lebanon are the 
first since withdrawing in 2000.  Israel launches 
a aerial bombardment of Beirut International 
Airport, the surrounding southern suburbs where 
Hezbollah operates, and the main highway connecting Beirut with Damascus.

Residents of Beirut stream out of the city 
desperately seeking refuge in the mountains or 
towards Syria.  With the Israeli naval blockade 
and the country’s only international airport 
inoperable, nearly all normal means out of the country are blocked.

Hezbollah fires scores of Katyusha rockets into 
Israel, most falling around the beach town of 
Nahariya.  A single larger missile hits Haifa, 
some 20 miles south of the Lebanese border, much 
farther than any previous Hezbollah rocket 
attacks.  Hezbollah rockets also strike Raifa.

President George W. Bush unconditionally defends 
the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, and goes on to 
assert that Syria be “held to account” for 
fostering “terrorism”.  He refuses to join 
international calls for a prompt 
ceasefire.  Meanwhile, at the U.N. Security 
Council, the United States casts the sole vote 
(veto) against a resolution that would have 
demanded that Israel halt its military offensive in Gaza.

July 14

Israel continues pounding southern Lebanon, 
southern Beirut, and sets fuel tanks ablaze at 
the Beirut International Airport.

Hezbollah launches a missile attack on an Israeli 
warship off the coast of Beirut, killing four sailors.

An emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council 
called by Lebanon convenes to discuss the 
possibility of a U.N.-mandated comprehensive 
ceasefire and lifting of the Israeli air and sea 
blockades of Lebanon.  U.S. Ambassador John 
Bolton stands alone in refusing to even urge 
restraint from Israel, and instead blames Syria 
and Iran for the current crisis.  In the shadow 
of yesterday’s U.S. veto, the session ends without taking any action.

July 15

Israel bombs bridges and roads across Lebanon, 
dividing the country and stranding civilians desperately fleeing its attacks.

July 16

Fighting continues to escalate over the 
weekend.  Israel strikes throughout Lebanon, 
including Sour, Nabatiyeh, Ba’albek, and as far 
north as the port city of Tripoli, killing scores 
of civilians.  Seven Canadians are killed in an 
Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese border town of 
Aitaroun.  In southern Beirut, Israel introduces 
for the first time the use of U.S.-made GBU-28 
guided bunker buster bombs in an attempt to 
destroy Hezbollah underground bunkers within the 
city.  Several 12 to 15-story buildings 
completely collapse into mountains of rubble 
(eerily reminiscent of Ground Zero after 
September 11th).  Large areas of the city are 
levelled.  South of Beirut, Israeli forces bomb 
the Jiyeh power plant.  The cumulative death toll 
in Lebanon reaches 160, overwhelmingly civilian, 
since the fighting began four days ago.

A Hezbollah rocket attack in Haifa kills 8 
people.  Others hit Tiberias, Nazareth, Afula, 
Givat E’la, and the Sheba’a Farms settlement in 
the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.  The 
cumulative death toll in Israel reaches 24, 12 civilian and 12 military.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz signals an 
escalation in military strategy from trying to 
secure the release of two Israeli soldiers 
captured by Hezbollah to the aim of permanently 
removing Hezbollah from southern Lebanon – 
essentially the area south of the Litani River.

Media commentary widely adopts the notion that 
Israel is exacting “collective punishment” on 
Lebanese and Palestinian residents, in effect 
holding them responsible for the respective 
actions of Hezbollah and Hamas.  The Israeli 
calculation appears to be that collective 
punishment through widespread bombing and 
destruction will intimidate public opinion into opposing Hezbollah and Hamas.

July 17

Israel aircraft bomb the Palestinian Foreign 
Ministry offices in Gaza.  Sustained Israeli bombardments continue in Lebanon.

July 20

U.S. Marines begin evacuating American citizens 
via amphibious landing craft from a beach north 
of Beirut before ferrying them to Cyprus.

Diplomatic efforts accelerate to deploy a U.N. or 
NATO peacekeeping force to introduce a buffer 
between the Israeli and Hezbollah forces along the Israel-Lebanon border.

July 22

An advanced force of 2,000 Israeli troops with 
tanks and armored bulldozers move across the 
Lebanese border under the cover of a fierce 
barrage of air strikes.  This is in anticipation 
of a massive ground offensive to sweep Hezbollah 
forces out of the area south of the Litani River.

July 24

Fierce bombardments by both sides continue 
throughout the week, but there is always an 
immense military asymmetry between Israel and 
Hezbollah.  The official cumulative death tolls 
reach 380 in Lebanon, over 100 in Palestine, 
versus 37 in Israel.  The World Health 
Organization estimates that up to 600,000 people 
have been displaced by Israeli bombing in Lebanon.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice begins a 
trip to the Middle East, but without any specific 
proposals for a ceasefire or diffusing the 
crisis.  Her main preoccupation appears to be 
limited to finding a way to curb Hezbollah and 
putting the Lebanese government in control of the 
area south of the Litani River.

Ten observations

Several significant points emerge from the 
unfolding events in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.

First, the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad 
Shalit on June 25 was not an unprovoked 
aggression.  It was immediately preceded by a 
series of Israeli shellings, rocket attacks, and 
commando raids on Gaza that killed over three 
dozen people, mostly civilians.  Even the earlier 
Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel beginning 
on June 9th were in response to a series of 
Israeli assaults on the Palestinian Authority in 
particular and Palestinian sovereignty in general.

Second, the capture of two Israeli soldiers by 
Hezbollah on July 12 was in support of 
Palestinians trapped and under almost continuous 
siege in Gaza.  It was also a reaction to the 
virtual dismemberment of the Palestinian 
government through Israel’s widespread arrests of 
its elected political leaders.  No people would 
be able to tolerate such a physical assault on 
their democratic political institutions and society.

Third, all meaningful proposals for ceasefires 
came from the Palestinian side and the Lebanese 
government.  All Palestinian and Lebanese 
ceasefire proposals were summarily rejected by 
the Israeli government, which placed decidedly 
asymmetric conditions on the acceptance of any ceasefire.

Fourth, both in Gaza and in Lebanon, Israeli 
attacks deliberately targeted essential 
infrastructure – roads, bridges, airports, 
seaports, and power stations.  These targets have 
little military significance to militias like 
those of Hamas and Hezbollah.  Yet they are 
crucial for the civilian population, for the 
movement of food and medicines, and for escape 
routes.  The systematic destruction of Lebanon’s 
transport infrastructure had no more immediate 
effect than to deny all Lebanese citizens and 
foreigners routes of escape from the heavy Israeli bombardments.

Fifth, both in Gaza and in Lebanon, Israel’s 
deliberate policy was to exact collective 
punishment on all residents in the hopes of 
putting pressure on the militias from 
within.  The plan is more likely to have the 
opposite effect of galvanizing a broad range of 
popular support behind the militias in much the 
same way that the Israeli assault on the 
Palestinian government and Gaza brought Hamas and Fatah much closer together.

Sixth, the U.S. government’s unconditional 
support for Israel, and unwavering rejection of 
ceasefire proposals, does not even pretend to 
advocate a peaceful resolution of the 
crisis.  The U.S. government’s prior role as 
peacemaker, however partial, in the Camp David 
Accords in 1978 and the Oslo Accords in 1993, has 
apparently been abandoned.  This extreme position 
will only further galvanize Arab and Muslim 
public opinion against the U.S. government and 
exacerbate declining U.S. credibility in the region.

Seventh, the cut-off of Palestinian tax revenues 
by Israel and the severance of direct aid by the 
U.S. and European Union in response to the lawful 
installation of a democratically-elected 
government in Palestine belie the U.S. and 
Israeli commitment to democracy.  They also 
reflect an utter disregard for the humanitarian 
needs of the Palestinian people who had already 
been cut off from their jobs and only means of 
livelihood in Israel since the beginning of the 
second Palestinian Intifada in 2000.  The 
potential collapse of the Palestinian Authority 
would bring complete anarchy to an already 
chaotic situation, and unleash heretofore unseen 
forces from inside the Palestinian resistance.

Eighth, the iron-handed control that Israel 
continues to exercise over the movement of people 
and goods into and out of Gaza belies the 
political and economic reality of Israel’s 
withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005.  Ten 
months after that withdrawal, Gaza residents are 
as much at the mercy of Israeli restrictions as 
ever.  Even the movement of people and goods 
between Gaza and Egypt, which share a common land 
border, remains under strict Israeli military control.

Ninth, Israel’s repeated suggestions that it 
might assassinate Palestinian leaders, including 
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, demonstrate 
complete disregard for the rule of law and 
Palestinian national sovereignty.  Its arbitrary 
arrests of Palestinian cabinet ministers and 
legislators prove that it may act with impunity 
against any duly-elected Palestinian government not to its liking.

Tenth, the slanted language of war belies the 
objectivity of U.S. policy as well as the 
impartiality of news coverage.  Israeli soldiers 
are “kidnapped” or “abducted”, but Palestinian 
leaders are “arrested” or 
“apprehended”.  Palestinian militants are 
“terrorists”, but the massive Israeli air strike 
that left a vast gaping Ground-Zero-like hole in 
the midst of high-rise residential buildings in 
southern Beirut is “Israel’s right to defend itself”.

Windows of opportunity to bring about peaceful settlements

A careful examination of the sequence of events 
over the past six months reveals that Israel is 
threatened only for reasons that are traceable 
back to its own disproportionate actions.  The 
traditional Hamas position of refusing to 
recognize Israel must be re-evaluated in the 
light of that organization assuming the reins of 
political power in a democratically-elected 
government.  As events have now proven, on June 
27 Hamas signed a document that effectively 
recognizes the state of Israel, accepting a 
two-state solution for the creation of a 
sovereign Palestinian state side-by-side with 
Israel.  Both Israel and the U.S. lost an 
unprecedented opportunity to politically engage 
the Hamas government, a government that, unlike 
the Fatah government, is effectively in a 
position to implement a lasting peace from the 
Palestinian side.  Former President Yasser Arafat 
and his successor, Mahmoud Abbas, have been 
trapped in space and time – in Ramallah and 
unable to move forward to statehood and a lasting 
peace with Israel – because of their lack of 
influence over the militias, including Hamas and 
the Palestinian guerrilla groups based in 
Lebanon.  Hamas, on the other hand, in a 
potential peace settlement with Israel is in a 
position to ask Palestinian militias to lay down their arms and make it happen.

It is time that the U.S. government see that 
unconditional support for Israel’s current 
reckless course will neither lead to peace nor 
stability in the Middle East.  As the world’s 
sole superpower, as Israel’s primary backer, and 
as an aid provider to Palestine, the U.S. is in a 
unique political position to broker a ceasefire 
and diffuse the current crisis.  In fact, with 
Hamas in power in Ramallah, it has an historical 
opportunity to bring about a two-state solution 
and a practical final peace in the region.  It 
also has a unique historical opportunity to 
diffuse the broader risks of mass destruction in 
the Middle East by offering to broker the mutual 
denuclearization of Iran and Israel.  Whereas 
Iran may find it difficult for domestic political 
reasons to halt its nuclear program under 
unilateral external pressure, it may well be 
willing to step down from dual-use nuclear 
technology if Israel does the same and gives up 
the operational nuclear weapons already in its 
arsenal.  Actually, Israel will be the harder 
party to convince.  But the entire Middle East 
will become a safer place without nuclear weapons 
and nuclear weapons programs.  The Bulletin of 
Atomic Scientists’ “doomsday clock” will be able 
to be set back a few more minutes.  The choices 
are clear: reduce the combustibles on all sides 
while there is a window of opportunity, or let the wildfires burn.

Sharat G. Lin writes on global political 
economy,  India, and the Middle East.  He lived 
in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war, and 
spent time in Israel, Gaza, and the West 
Bank.  Captured by a Palestinian militia in 1973, 
he has first-hand experience of their internal workings.


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