The Hamas terrorist organization has been waging a guerrilla war with Israel for over two decades now. Over 10000 rockets and mortars have been fired by Palestinian terrorist groups into Israel since the Second Intifada began in 2001. More than 3600 of those were fired since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in August 2007. Over two dozen Israeli civilians have lost their lives in rocket attacks since 2001. Hamas is not interested in land. That has been demonstrated by Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, which rather than reducing the terrorist threat, has actually served to increase it. Indeed Hamas has been forced to step up attacks against Israel precisely because of Israel's disengagement from Gaza, as the organization can only exist so long as Israel is perceived to be the enemy of the Palestinian people. Nor is Hamas interested in making peace with Israel. Hamas is seeking nothing less that the complete destruction of the Jewish state. The Hamas charter declares that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it". Additionally the charter quotes from the Qur'an in stating that, "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him". Both Hamas and Fatah encourage their children to become shahids or 'martyrs' for the sake of Allah. And Hamas teach their children that by waging holy war they will be able to subjugate not only Israel, but also Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe and America under Islamic rule. So exactly what is it that endears this terrorist organization to the hundreds of thousands of people across the world who have marched in support of them and in protest against Israel's actions in Gaza?

Quote: ""It perhaps doesn't interest the individual citizen, but it definitely interests the elites in these nations, the urban intellectuals: the press, authors, academics," Professor Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former acting foreign minister, told Ynet. "This is less due to the horror an average person feels when witnessing death and gore on television and more because Israel is involved in the matter. I always asked the Palestinians if they truly believe that the world takes an interest in them. After all, when Arabs kill Arabs, it doesn't provoke worldwide protests. If the Egyptians or Jordanians were attacking them, would anyone in the world be up in arms?" "Only when Jews are involved does public interest rise, and this is because there is a deeply entrenched global syndrome regarding Jews," Ben-Ami stated.

I think Professor Shlomo has hit the nail on the head, although I would disagree with the reasoning for his argument. Shlomo believes that the international community feels guilty because of the way the Jewish people have been treated throughout history, and seeks to transfer some of this guilt back to Israel by accusing them of carrying out the same crimes that were committed against them. But I don't agree. Personally I feel that there is one common thread that unites Hamas and the thousands of people who have marched in support of them - an underlying hatred for the Jews. In Hitler's day the Jews were persecuted because they were perceived to be the root cause of all the evil in the world. Ironically, the hatred for the Jews that spawned the holocaust must in turn be denied by these Islamic anti-Semites, because the holocaust is later used as justification for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In modern times the old anti-Semitic hatred has been given a fresh coat of paint. Today anti-Semitism masquerades as the more 'politically correct' anti-Zionism, and the lie that the Jews stole Arab land is continually propagated in order to justify this hatred. The sad fact is, much of the media has bought into this lie. 'It's just a war over land', they say. 'Israel is the occupier and those poor Palestinians are just doing what they can to get by'. Baloney. This is a religious war, and it won't end with Israel withdrawing to pre-1967 borders. It's a fight to the death. And as the Qur'an states, the day of judgement will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews.

The Bible prophesies of a day in which the status of Jerusalem would become a burdensome stone for all people (Zechariah 12:2-3). We are now witnessing this Scripture coming to pass. Praise God that Jesus Christ is coming back. When Israel is completely surrounded by enemies and has nobody else to turn to, then they will look unto the One Whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10). And He will fight for them as when He fought in the day of battle (Zechariah 14:3). There will be no talk of 'disproportionate force' in that day. He is the only One of Whom it can be said, "in righteousness he doth judge and make war", Revelation 19:11. What about you? Will Christ be you Saviour in that day? Or will He be your Judge? Look unto the One Who was pierced for your sins. He died for you so that you might be forgiven. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).

Source YNet News, Palestinian Media Watch