The international community has wasted little time in conferring legitimacy on this nascent terrorist regime known as the Palestinian Authority.
By MICHAEL FREUNDSwearing-in ceremony of the Palestinian unity government, in Ramallah, June 2, 2014.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Barely a week has passed since the Palestinian unity government was sworn in, and the international community has wasted little time in conferring legitimacy on this nascent terrorist regime.Tossing aside any pretense of morality, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations all embraced the new Palestinian administration, despite its incorporation of Hamas, a genocidal Islamic terror organization.In case anyone forgot, Hamas is the Palestinian equivalent of Murder, Inc. Its main claim to fame is popularizing suicide bombings and rocket attacks against innocent civilians, blowing up passenger buses during rush hour and demonizing Jews as the “sons of monkeys and pigs.”Adding irony to insult, the West agreed to work with these terrorists-in-suits during the week commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when Washington and its allies unequivocally mustered the determination to combat evil.Nowadays, rather than standing up to the forces of darkness, America and the West prefer to kowtow. This is nothing less morally obscene. It shows a complete abdication of decency and leadership. President Barack Obama and other Western decision- makers should be ashamed of themselves.Indeed, this year marks the 25th anniversary of Hamas’ first attacks, when the organization burst onto the scene in a brutally bloody manner. On February 16, 1989, two Hamas terrorists disguised as haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews kidnapped Sgt. Avi Sasportas, an army medic, at Hodaya Junction and murdered him. A few months later, on May 3, 1989, Cpl. Ilan Saadon was abducted and killed in a similar manner. Seven long years would pass before their bodies were discovered and their families could finally bury their loved ones.Hamas continues to take pride in such actions.Not surprisingly they boast about them to Palestinian audiences with nary a word of remorse or regret.Indeed, in June 2013, Hamas’ military wing produced a propaganda video bragging about the various Israeli soldiers it had kidnapped in the past, including Sasportas and Saadon.And now, the very same group behind these atrocities is being treated as if it has something to contribute to Middle East peace.
Just two days ago, Robert Serry, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, paid a visit to Gaza, where he met with four ministers in the new Palestinian government.“I congratulated the ministers on their appointment,” Serry said in a statement, “and discussed with them the many practical challenges ahead.”Serry also “assured them of the full support of the United Nations, which is ready to increase its considerable program of works in Gaza, including in the priority areas of water and energy.”The meeting led the new Palestinian housing minister, Mofeed al-Hasaina, to crow, “it reflects the international recognition of this unity government.”Who said terrorism doesn’t pay? To be fair, the UN, the US and the EU have stated that the new Palestinian cabinet must recognize Israel and adhere to previous signed agreements. US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted that, “We are going to be watching very closely, as we said from day one, to be absolutely sure that it upholds each of those things it has talked about, that it doesn’t cross the line.”But it is difficult to take such declarations seriously, particularly since the entire Western approach to the Palestinian unity government hinges on a transparent fiction.Kerry and others have been vocally asserting that the new Palestinian administration consists of “technocrats” without political affiliation. US State Department Deputy Spokesman Marie Harf told reporters last week, apparently with a straight face, that the Palestinian cabinet “does not include any ministers affiliated with Hamas... They are all technocrats unaffiliated with any political party and are responsible for facilitating new elections.”This, however, is nothing less than an act of willful deceit. After all, these “technocrats” were appointed by Hamas, got their positions as a result of Hamas’ deal with Fatah, and will obviously answer directly to the terrorist group’s leadership.To suggest otherwise is sheer nonsense.The fact is that by granting their blessing to Hamas’ participation in the Palestinian government, the US and much of the international community have done more in the past week to legitimize Islamic extremism than Osama bin-Laden, Sheikh Yassin and Mohammed Morsi combined.As George Orwell noted in his classic 1946 work Politics and the English Language, “Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”Sadly, that is precisely what Washington and Europe have sought to do: to make Hamas murderers respectable.But no amount of diplomatic deception and dress-up can disguise the unvarnished truth: the Palestinian Authority is now officially a terrorist regime. And that is how it should be treated.
