Hamas Activities Understood on the Basis of Law

From Professor Michael Curtis, at American Thinker:

To paraphrase the line in a Richard Rodgers ballad, I do not know a day when I did not behold Hamas rockets attacking Israeli civilians. Calculations suggest that more than 13,000 missiles have been fired by Hamas in Gaza against those civilians. During July 2014, Hamas fired more than 800 rockets before Israel responded by Operation Protective Edge seeking to eliminate or reduce the aggression. According to international law, the concept of military necessity justifies Israeli attacks on legitimate military targets. Regrettably, those attacks may have adverse consequences for civilians.

Well-meaning people like the President of the European Council and President of the European Commission in a joint official statement of August 3, 2014 on the Gaza situation spoke of the need to move beyond “these cycles of violence.” But there is no “cycle of violence.” Hamas’ position is unequivocal: it denies the legitimacy of Israel; it demonizes Israel; it wants to eliminate the State of Israel.

Unexpected parties have made clear who is responsible for the conflict in Gaza. On August 1, 2014, Abdullah, the King of Saudi Arabia, called the Gaza War “a collective massacre” caused by Hamas. He denounced the Hamas violence that had led to various forms of terrorism. He omitted to say that the war has led to a virtual alliance, for differing reasons, between Israel and Arabs including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and the Palestinian Authority, weak though the latter is.

Even those living in the fantasy world where Hamas is blameless for the current conflict, such as the Spanish celebrity actors, Penelope Cruz and Javier Barden, have qualified their partisanship. In a public letter of July 27, 2014 they, together with other show business celebrities, unilaterally condemned Israel for “its attacks in the Gaza Strip,” and spoke of Israeli genocide, a war of occupation and extermination against a whole people. No one had thought of Cruz as having a perfect, or even an imperfect, understanding of Middle East politics. However, two days after the letter, Cruz and Barden, or their publicists, “clarified” their position. Cruz explained with undue modesty, “I do not want to be misunderstood on this important subject. I’m not an expert on the situation.” Her husband Barden similarly explained, “My signature (on the letter) was solely meant as a plea for peace… I have great respect for the people of Israel and deep compassion for their losses.”

Cruz and Barden, and various critics of Israel, such as other celebrities, the mainstream media and churches, and all those who have been concerned about the loss of life, especially of children, in the fighting might now examine in the context of international law the extent of the responsibility of Hamas in committing war crimes and violations of international law. Hamas leaders, Muhammad Deif, Chief of Staff, and Ismail Haniyeh, the leader, have taunted Israelis, “We desire death like you desire life.” The best way to examine Hamas’ accountability is by analyzing a number of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949...

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