Progressive World Review

In a move that was widely criticized, former president Jimmy Carter began negotiations with the democratically elected leaders of the Gaza strip, Hamas.  As Carter travelled to the region, pretty much all you heard was that Hamas is a terrorist group that refuses to accept the existence of Israel and therefore is unworthy of negotiating with.  Given our current political climate, this was hardly a surprise.  Bush, in classic authoritarian style, has refused to negotiate with any of our enemies, even when counseled by his own friends and allies that to do so would be in our best interest.  One would hope however, that the so called serious foreign policy experts would be able to learn from past mistakes and see the value and necessity of such negotiations but alas, it’s not to be.

Previously, I had pointed out that Carter should be praised rather than condemned for his attempt to bring peace to the Middle East and that simply labeling Hamas as terrorists and refusing to deal with them was a woefully misguided policy.  In the authoritarian model of the world one need only look at the leadership as a basis for making decisions while completely ignoring the actual people involved.  But in fact, you ignore the will of the people at your own peril.  This was certainly true of the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power and seems to be the case with Hamas and the Palestinians of Gaza.  Jimmy Carter appears to understand this and while he’s been almost universally vilified by the media, he’s already producing results as reported in this Washington Post article,

The armed Islamist movement Hamas is prepared to accept Israel as a neighbor if the Palestinian people approve the terms for peace, former president Jimmy Carter and the group’s exiled leadership said Monday following a visit to the region that included seven hours of negotiations.

Obviously it’s far too soon to declare peace in the region but the point is this; Hamas’ position regarding Israel was not terribly important in and of itself.  What was important, was the collective opinion of the Palestinian people living in Gaza, who had already expressed a desire to recognize Israel and find a way to live side-by-side with the Israeli people.  The Hamas leadership can rant and rave all it wants about the destruction of Israel but their role as leaders would be short lived if ultimately they didn’t reflect the will of their would be followers.  This simple lesson is invariably either forgotten or never learned by the so called experts in this country that play such a vital role in guiding our foreign policy.  But clearly, it’s time to end this playground style dispute that the U.S. leaders insist on engaging in and let some real grownups take over.

–Paul Wilden

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