Last Wednesday, Hamas marked its 24th anniversary by publicising the number of Jews it has murdered. The highly publicized event (and grisly casualty figures) came just months before Palestinians are scheduled to go to the polls to elect a new parliament and president.
In an official statement, Hamas' military wing the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade, boasted of killing 1,365 Israelis and wounding another 6,411 in 1,117 terror attacks over the past twenty years. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade claimed it had fired over 11,000 rockets and missiles from Gaza into southern Israel.
Hours later, tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City to celebrate Hamas' founding and its successes against the hated Jews of Israel. Speakers at the event reiterated Hamas' dedication to eliminating Israel, and decried ongoing Middle East peace negotiations as a failed experiment.
Many in Israel saw the public event as the start of Hamas' campaign for the next legislative and presidential election, which Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced will take place in May 2012.
Hamas leaders expect to score another landslide victory when next the Palestinians go to the polls. The 2006 Palestinian election produced a surprise Hamas takeover of the Palestinian parliament, a result that left clueless Western diplomats baffled.
If recent electoral results in Egypt, with successes for the Muslim Brotherhood which begot Hamas are any indication, the general sentiment on the street has only drifted closer to the Islamist viewpoint in the intervening years.
And what will the international community do in the face of Hamas’ electoral campaign? If Hamas is victorious at the polls, Israel will be urged to talk to Hamas.
Picture this. A group of thugs has murdered all your family and they are threatening to kill you also. You go to the police and the sergeant behind the desk responds, ‘Have you tried talking to these people sir?’
‘They’ve killed my parents, my wife, my children and they are after me too,’ you shout.
‘Well sir,’ says the sergeant, ‘I’m sure these people can be made to think differently if you just have little talk with them.’
Surreal? Of sourse. But that’s essentially what the world has been saying to Israel for the last two decades.
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