Opinion

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Greenberg's View

Editorial

THE NEW
NEGOTIATING PARTNER

Be Wary Of Hamas

A

11 politics, goes the old
saying, is local. So the
upset victory of Hamas
over Fatah in last week's
Palestinian elections should not
be regarded as much of an upset
or as a referendum on peace
with Israel.
Fatah was hopelessly corrupt,
unable to deliver a bare mini-
mum of local services or to con-
trol its rampaging gunmen. So,
it was rejected by voters. They
hoped that Hamas, for all its
long embrace of violence, could
bring a more orderly life. That
more than any other issue was
the decisive factor.
Yes, Fatah had presented itself
as a partner for peace with
Israel. But it consistently proved
to be unable or unwilling to
deliver on its promises. Either
way, it was a shaky reed on
which to rest Israel's security.
Since it took over the admin-
istration of Gaza, Palestinians
saw Fatah's incompetence at its
worst. Daily life descended into
an endless round of chaos. Its

defeat is no great loss to anyone.
But in Fatah's place is an
organization unapologetically
dedicated to terrorism. Instead
of the glass of peace being half
empty, there are now many on
both sides who feel it is time to
take the glass, smash it against
the wall and sweep the shards
into the garbage.
President George W Bush, in
his press conference following
the election, reiterated that the
United States will not recognize
a government led by Hamas as
long as it remains dedicated to
terrorism.
All major Jewish organiza-
tions in the United States, both
religious and secular, have
echoed Bush. They call for
Hamas to be "shunned" by the
responsible world community
until it renounces and ends its
dedication to Israel's destruc-
tion, dismantles its terrorist
infrastructure and explicitly
recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Experts on terrorism point
out that the election could well
open the entire West Bank to Al

steve@greenberg art.com VC 57'0;006 41.0 1
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-

Qaida, Hezbollah and an endless
assortment of Iranian-spon-
sored thuggery. Some are sug-
gesting a pre-emptive closing of
borders with other Arab states.
On the other hand, Hamas
must now govern. The worst
possible result of the election
would have been for Fatah to
win a narrow majority, with
Hamas, having no responsibility
to lead the government, holding
several ministries.
It may well be that Hamas is
totally unprepared for its
changed role, and Israel is

entering a new and even more
dangerous period in its history.
Or it could emerge from the
dark as a legitimate political
organization, ready to talk rea-
son.
There have been instances in
history when this has happened.
And there have been just as
many when such organizations
were voted into power demo-
cratically then rejected account-
ability by suspending democrat-
ic rule as fast as they could.
The leaders of Hamas are not
about to openly renounce their

bloody past and take up ballet.
They might, however, try to con-
duct back-door talks, and Israel
will have to decide whether it
will forego transparency as the
price of such a process.
The basic formulation, how-
ever, cannot change. As long as
Hamas refuses to lay down its
guns, Israel and its allies must
stick to theirs. ❑

E-mail letters of no

more than 150 words to:

letters@thejewishnews.com

Reality Check

Less Than A Man

T

he most misunderstood
part of the U.S.
Constitution has to be
the three-fifths clause.
It appears right near the top
— Article One, Section Two —
as part of the description of
how members of Congress
would be chosen.
The clause set up machinery
for a decennial census, with
each state apportioned seats in
the House of Representatives by
a count of its "free persons and
... three-fifths of all other per-
sons." These "other persons"
were, of course, black slaves.
That language has been dern-
agogued to death by those who
have no understanding of what
it was meant to accomplish.
They insist it is "proof" that
slaves were dehumanized by
the Framers, regarded as some-
thing less than a whole man or

woman.
If that was the case, though,
why did the Southern, slave-
holding states vehemently
oppose this clause and why was
it supported so ardently by the
North? The answer is simple. If
every slave had been counted
as one person, the Southern
states would have controlled
Congress. They could have then
pushed slavery into all the new
territories and states.
Far from dehumanizing
slaves, the clause was meant to
limit the power of their mas-
ters.
No matter how many times
this is explained, however, there
is always someone who wants
to rant about the purported
racist evil in the nation's found-
ing document.
That's why I hesitate to sug-
gest that it may be time to

Many congressional
bring the three-
leaders from the
fifths count back, as
Northeast and Midwest
a way of dealing
already are trying to
with the problem of
address this essentially
illegal immigrants.
ludicrous problem. How
They are now part
do you reduce the polit-
of the count in the
George C antor ical impact of people
census' statistical
who shouldn't even be
Colum nist
formula. That is one
here to begin with?
of the reasons states
That seems to be the crowning
on the Mexican border are rap-
absurdity of this whole porous
idly gaining seats in Congress.
border situation. An agency of
When the next reapportion-
the Mexican government even
ment takes place, after the 2010
intends to provide illegals with
census, California, Texas and
maps to assist them in the
Arizona are going to add dou-
crossing.
ble-digit seats. That will come
Explain to me, please, how
at the expense of states like
they are entitled to driver's
Pennsylvania, Ohio and
licenses, school enrollment, cit-
Michigan.
izenship for their children who
So there will be more politi-
are born here? Just as impor-
cal clout for the Southwest,
tant, how are those who know-
diminished power for us. That
ingly employ them allowed to
does not come under the head-
stay out of prison?
ing of good news.

If the immigration laws are
bad, write new laws. But don't
scoff at the ones that exist.
Most of all, don't reward sec-
tions of the country that bene-
fit from this attitude by giving
them more political heft.
Because, sure as the morning
sunrise, before too many more
years go by those largely arid
Southwestern states will use
their enhanced clout in
Congress to come after Great
Lakes water. -
Bring back the three-fifths
clause, and for the same reason
it was originally placed in the
Constitution: to limit the
growth of a dubious and dan-
gerous imbalance in sectional
population.

❑

George Cantor's e-mail address

is gcantor614@aol.com .

February 2 2006

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