Here's another letter about the Israel Palestine situtation that was published in The Lowell Sun . Here's the link to the origninal letter . It was written partialy in response to this response to my previous letter.
The author of the letter "How Hamas used its own citizens to gain fame," published on June 23, is right that Hamas is an organization that has committed numerous and horrendous crimes. However, the assertion that "the biggest share of funds, those that were destined to support the people of Gaza, do not reach them. It goes to Hamas," is not borne out by the facts. One of the primary reasons for Hamas' popularity is its success in creating strong social programs, which the corrupt Fatah did not do. The Israeli scholar Reuven Paz estimates that "approximately 90 percent of its work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities." As much as we may despise Hamas and what they represent they are the elected government of Gaza and until the Palestinians do something about it, they will be in power.
The United States government accepts and supports the Israeli government despite its crimes, including dropping white phosphorous (a chemical that causes third-degree burns) on the people of Gaza. They accept and support the Saudi government despite their barbaric practice of public executions. Why is Hamas a special case?
Clearly, ostracizing Hamas has not worked. Western countries have continuously tried this method to weaken governments and organizations they oppose. History tells us that this only serves to strengthen the organizations. One only needs to consider the more than a decade-long sanctions against Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship; they did little to weaken his power, while resulting in innocent deaths that are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.
Then what could work? Again history can teach us a lesson. For decades there was mutual antagonism between the IRA and the British government in Ireland. The British government refused to recognize the legitimacy of the IRA's claims and the violence between both sides continued. Only when the rights of the Catholic population of Northern Ireland were acknowledged (in the Good Friday agreement) by the British government and violence was renounced on both sides did the prospects for peace begin to improve. A similar story played out in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress, a group that was designated a terrorist organization for years.
If we can learn these lessons from history, there is certainly hope for peace in the Middle East.
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