[lbo-talk] Negotiations on long-term ceasefire with Hamas should be considered

[Bryan Atinsky]

Dror Ze'evi was head of the Department of Middle East
Studies at Ben Gurion University in the Negev while I did my MA there.
(http://web2.bgu.ac.il/MidEast/working/Weboard/staff.asp?lecture= zeevi)

Definitely not a radical leftist, but he is rational and realistic about these issues. You may remember Dror from an article he wrote a while ago in response to the Benny Morris screed (who is also at BGU) about Iran.

Bryan
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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3421084,00.html

Give Hamas a chance

*Negotiations on long-term ceasefire with Hamas should be considered*

Dror Zeevi

Hamas is evidently in distress and its leaders are signaling that they
would be prepared for a compromise in exchange for opening crossings and
transferring supplies. Sources close to Hamas insist that there is a
willingness among Hamas leaders to advance a long-term ceasefire.

Israel is currently enjoying clear tactical superiority and it appears
that it is holding the entire deck of cards. The easy solution is to
lead the area to almost total collapse, or alternately, as army officers
and Knesset members have been saying recently, "to allow them to keep
their heads above water."

However, it would be a mistake to boycott Hamas. The rational mode of
action would be to listen to what its leadership has to say and to try
and reach an agreement with them.

And what will happen in 2017? It is likely that in a decade from now
Hamas would succeed in organizing, gathering weapons, and threatening
our security. However, as we have seen, this probability exists even
without a ceasefire as well as in circumstances of ongoing warfare.
Contrary to this, perhaps after 10 years of calm, conditions and
standards of living may be created that even Hamas would be interested
in maintaining, and perhaps even an ideological shift would occur in the
Gaza Strip.

The hysterical calls are blinding us from seeing the positive sides of
the Hamas takeover. Following years of idleness on the part of

Mahmoud Abbas and his cabinet, Hamas has begun restoring an organized
rule in the Strip. The leadership is intent on disarming the militias,
cutting the clans down to their natural size, and running the area as a
government. The Palestinian Authority never did this. In my opinion,
Hamas has a reasonable chance of succeeding; unfortunately, probably
more so than Abbas in the West Bank.

Stories of the brutality of Hamas and its rule of terror are widespread,
but let's not feign innocence. Fatah's preventative security officers
who interrogated their rivals in Gaza were no less brutal. And had they
been the victors we would have probably witnessed similar shocking
scenes. The Hamas regime is no less violent or arbitrary than other Arab
regimes.

The past days have demonstrated that the organization is not seeking to
intensify the struggle against Israel. Its reasons for this are
obviously tactical. The organization has not relinquished its aspiration
to annihilate the Zionist state and it will continue pursing this goal
covertly. However, at this time Hamas is in need of calm in order to
build the area under its control, and to this end it would be prepared
for calm.


Don’t let Hamas plan intimidate us

Simply put, if it so wishes, Hamas would be able to realize what Fatah
has been promising for years but was unable to do – restore calm in the
Gaza Strip and end the Qassam rocket fire.

Hamas' long-term plan to annihilate Israel should not intimidate us. We
should be aware of it, but at the same time we should make it clear to
Hamas that if it is seeking calm, we too would be happy to oblige, and
if they are seeking a 10-year ceasefire we shall sit face to face or via
Saudi mediation and define the conditions for such an armistice.

If on the one hand we succeed in securing an agreement that would
include absolute calm, limitations on weapon supplies and border
inspection, along with the release of captives, procedures for provision
of food commodities, entry of laborers into Israel and opening of the
border with Egypt – this would prove beneficial for all parties involved.

Albeit it being true that we should bolster Mahmoud Abbas and prove to
the Palestinian and Arab worlds that moderation is the way to go,
Israel's basic position should be clear: A willingness to enter dialogue
with any Arab or Palestinian element that so wishes, including radical
Islamic movements. Only recognition of our existence would be
reciprocated with a comprehensive peace agreement; however, willingness
for calm and a ceasefire should also be reciprocated by Israel.