Wage war, plan for peace

Editorial

Accusations aside, the Israeli Defense Forces committed no massacre at Jenin. Rather, according to a United Nations report, the IDF committed forces to enter the refugee camp of 14,000 Palestinian civilians to root out 200 "armed men" from the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Tanzim, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

A correct accusation is that these "armed men" - terrorists - are committing massacres, spearheaded by Hamas: seven dead (including five Americans) and scores wounded at Hebrew University; nine dead and 45 wounded on a bus near Tzvat.

Hamas' stated goal is to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. According to its platform: "The Islamic Resistance Movement ... strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine."

In this effort, Hamas has established in the Gaza Strip and West Bank mosques, schools, health clinics, youth groups, athletic clubs and day-care centers - for a purpose that goes well beyond providing social services. In these institutions, Hamas spews hateful anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda to indoctrinate Palestinian youth to attack Israel.

Given its twisted fundamentalist Islamic ideology, Hamas - unlike the secular Palestinian Authority - possesses absolutely no potential to negotiate for peace.

Asked whether Hamas has considered a ceasefire with Israel, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, Hamas spokesman, told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera: "Who said that? Everyone knows that we want to take back all of Holy Palestine, from the (Mediterranean) sea to the Jordan (River)."

The cold reality is that Hamas is at war against Israel.

The Jewish state has every right to defend itself. In this effort, the U.S. government needs to loosen its foreign-policy reins and implicitly support Israel's actions to protect its soldiers and civilians.

Explicitly, it's time for the Bush administration to exert pressure to cut the financial umbilical cord connecting Hamas to Iran, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Further, as Israel wages war against Hamas, it must - in association with the United States - help repair the Palestinian infrastructure. Palestinian civilians are in desperate need of financial assistance for basic needs such as plumbing. They must have work permits to earn money to put food on their tables. Of note is that Arab states this year contributed less than $5 million (roughly 2 percent of its budget) to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency - created to care for Palestinian refugees.

As Israel wages a war against an enemy that denies the nation's right to exist, at the same time it can strive to create an environment where true partners - next year, in five years or in another generation - will rise up, extending their hands in peace.

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