viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
theJEWISHNEWS.com
essay
West Bank Palestinians Must Reject Hamas’ Terrorist Ideology
I
srael is a safe haven for Jews every-
where, but remains a prime target for
Hamas’ destructive forces, notwith-
standing the Palestinian Authority’s sup-
posed interest in seeking a peace deal with
the Jewish state.
Make no mistake
about that.
Hamas, which
rules the Palestinian-
populated Gaza Strip, is
a Sunni Islamic funda-
mentalist organization. It
presumably is in line to
Robert Sklar
form a Palestinian state
Contributing Editor with the P.A., which,
through the Sunni
Islamic secular faction known as Fatah,
leads Palestinian-controlled areas of the
West Bank. Discrediting Hamas is the
fact that Israel, the U.S. and the European
Union consider it a terrorist organization.
In keeping with that inglorious dis-
tinction, Hamas recently had operatives
among the eight Israeli Arabs arrested by
Israeli security officers on suspicion of
seeking to unleash shooting attacks across
Jerusalem. Alarming but not surprising,
given how young Gazans have been indoc-
trinated to hate, most of the suspects are
younger than 18.
The suspects, who hail from the Arab-
dominated eastern sector of Jerusalem,
apparently had been angling for possible
targets, including an Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) base next to Hebrew University’s
Mount Scopus campus. The eight were
part of a terrorist cell that sprouted after
they served time in Israeli prisons for riot-
ing against Israel, according to the Shin
Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency.
The Shin Bet made the arrests in
November but held off announcing them
until Dec. 9 pending further investigation.
In a statement, the Shin Bet underscored
the “grave danger” posed by “assailants
with Israeli documentation who enjoy free
movement and access to weapons.” Most
disturbing was the Shin Bet’s concern
about “the relative ease” with which those
assailants “can carry out attacks.”
LOUDER DRUMBEAT
The same week, three Palestinian teenag-
ers were arrested for allegedly plotting a
shooting attack against a military outpost
near the West Bank settlement of Ofra. It’s
not clear if the teens had links to Hamas,
but they all were well-versed in the usage
of homemade weapons, a hallmark of
Hamas operatives.
The week also saw two Hamas fight-
ers die in a collapsed tunnel dug between
Gaza and southern Israel. Hamas is sus-
pected of digging a tunnel network to
facilitate terrorist attacks and the kidnap-
6 December 22 • 2016
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us
Chanukah is a good time to ponder
the sobering notion that a Palestinian state,
should one ever emerge via direct, bilateral
negotiations, wouldn’t dissolve Palestinian
leadership-induced fi ssures in the feelings of
younger Palestinians toward the Jewish state.
pings of soldiers and civilians inside Israel.
The Shin Bet further used the week to
reveal an October bust of a Hamas terror
cell plotting to kidnap IDF soldiers around
Hebron and turn them into bargaining
chips “for the release of prisoners.” Six cell
members were arrested.
The seventh member, Ibrahaim
Abdallah Ghnimat, is believed to have
masterminded the planning of the kidnap-
ping operations from prison, where he’s
serving a life sentence for engaging in a
series of 1990s terror attacks, including
the kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier
Sharon Edri, according to the Times of
Israel.
“The discovery of this cell,” the Shin Bet
announced in a telling statement, “points
to the high motivation of Hamas opera-
tives, both in the field and in prison, to
carry out serious attacks, including shoot-
ings and kidnappings.”
And there’s more.
Though the rate has slowed, young
Palestinians from the West Bank and
east Jerusalem continue to attempt to
stab Israeli civilians and security person-
nel. Ostensibly motivating these youth-
ful attackers is frustration about their
languishing way of life, Israel’s 50-year
administrative presence in the West Bank
and the lack of movement in realizing
a Palestinian state. The real motivation,
however, is the utter hatred toward Israel
they have learned through Hamas-spewed
vitriol, which has infested Fatah thinking
as well.
HOPEFILLED MESSAGE
Chanukah, the holiday of religious free-
dom, beginning after sundown Saturday,
is a good time to understand a Palestinian
state, should one ever emerge via direct,
bilateral negotiations between Israel and
the Palestine Liberation Organization, the
Palestinian people’s official negotiating
arm, wouldn’t dissolve the deep resent-
ment among younger Palestinians toward
the Jewish state — resentment fomented
by both Hamas and Fatah.
That’s why revival of Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks must start with Palestinian
recognition of the Jewish state, an obvious
prerequisite. The Jewish people cannot
expect complex final-status negotiating
issues like borders, settlements, refugees,
Jerusalem, security arrangements, water
rights and holy sites to evolve without a
credible peace partner.
On the Dec. 11 episode of CBS TV’s 60
Minutes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu reiterated his support for
a two-state solution — two states, one
Jewish and one Palestinian, living side by
side in peace with safe, secure borders.
Observing the crisis living conditions in
Aleppo, Sanaa, Mosul and other terrorist-
controlled areas of the Middle East,
Netanyahu told TV viewers in regard to
the Palestinians: “Our intention is coexis-
tence.”
It would behoove Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas, positioned
by the West as a political moderate, to
embrace the spirit of that intention on
behalf of all Palestinians this holiday sea-
son — Hamas and its intractable ideology
notwithstanding.
*
Yiddish Limerick
| Editorial
Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@renmedia.us
Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen
kcohen@thejewishnews.com
Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin
lkonstantin@renmedia.us
Senior Copy Editor: David Sachs
dsachs@renmedia.us
Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
smanello@renmedia.us
Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin
dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net
Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar
rsklar@renmedia.us
Contributing Writers:
Ruthan Brodsky, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen,
Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman,
Adam Finkel, Ryan Fishman, Stacy Gittleman, Judy
Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber,
Harry Kirsbaum, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy,
Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin Schwartz,
Steve Stein
| Creative Services
Corporate Creative Director: Deborah Schultz
dschultz@renmedia.us
| Advertising Sales
Sales Director: Keith Farber
kfarber@renmedia.us
Account Executives : Kathryn Andros, Paul Biondi,
Wendy Flusty, Annette Kizy, Paige Lustig
Sales Manager Assistants : Andrea Gusho,
Karen Marzolf
| Business Offices
Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner
Collections Analyst: Hazel Bender
| Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES
Manager: Scott Drzewiecki
Designers: Amy Pollard, Pam Sherevan,
Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker
| Detroit Jewish News
Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt
President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett
kbrowett@renmedia.us
Controller: Craig R. Phipps
Corporate Creative Director: Deborah Schultz
dschultz@renmedia.us
| Fulfillment
circulationdesk@thejewishnews.com
| Departments
HAPPY CHANUKAH!
We add a licht* in yeder nacht.**
It’s ein, tzvay, dri*** until it’s acht.****
Mir zingen***** “Maoz Tzur”
with great delight
Di menora in der fentzter******
is “out of sight.”
Now kum un ess******* di latkes ich
hob gemacht.********
* licht — candle
** yeder nacht — each night
*** ein, tzvay, dri — one, two, three
**** acht — eight
***** Mir zingen — we sing
****** der fentzter — the window
******* kum un ess — come and eat
******** ich hob gemacht — I made
— Rachel Kapen
General Offi ces: 248-354-6060
Advertising: 248-351-5107
Advertising Fax: 248-304-0049
Circulation: 248-351-5174
Classifi ed Ads: 248-351-5116
Advertising Deadline: Monday, 2 p.m.
Editorial Fax: 248-304-8885
Deadline: All public and social announcements must be
typewritten and received by noon Tuesday, nine days
prior to desired date of publication.
Subscriptions:
1 year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $85
2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $153
3 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $204
1 year out-of-state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $125
2 years out-of-state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $225
Per year foreign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300
Detroit Jewish News
29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110
Southfi eld, MI 48034
©copyright 2016 Detroit Jewish News
To make a donation to the
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.djnfounadtion.org