Welcome to Iran on the Mediterranean

Welcome to Iran on the Mediterranean

Jonathan S. Tobin

While anti-Zionist activists around the globe and in United Nations agencies continue to portray even the most passive forms of Israeli self-defense—such as the construction of a fence to prevent suicide bombers from infiltrating the country—as war crimes, the question of human rights in territory under Palestinian control continues to be treated as a matter of little interest to much of the world. The latest indicator of what life is like in the independent Palestinian state in all but name that exists in Gaza came today when the United Nations Relief and Works Agency canceled its annual marathon. The purpose of the race is to raise money for UNRWA’s summer programs for children, but they were forced to give it up when the Hamas government of Gaza banned women from participating.

While the world blames Israel for all of Gaza’s problems, its greatest problem has always been the refusal of Palestinian groups to prioritize development over waging war on the Jewish state. That has only grown worse in the past six years since Hamas took over control of the area from the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. Israel’s complete withdrawal from the strip has given us a look at what an independent Palestinian state actually looks like. It isn’t a pretty sight.


That UNRWA, of all agencies, should be calling out Hamas for its oppressive attitudes is an irony of no small dimension. The UN has two groups to deal with refugees around the globe: one to deal with the Palestinians and one for everyone else. UNRWA is responsible for the care and feeding of hundreds of thousands of the descendants of the original Arabs who fled from areas that were governed by the newborn Jewish state. It has assisted in the Arab and Muslim world’s efforts to keep the Palestinians homeless rather than resettling them and therefore helping to end the conflict. It has also been heavily infiltrated by Hamas and allowed its facilities to be used as shelters for terrorists. Its schools and camps have also helped indoctrinate young Palestinians in an ideology of hatred for Jews and Israel.

But the UN, for all of its faults, is legally obligated to respect women’s rights, meaning that it cannot be an enabler of this particular form of Hamas oppression.

Contrary to Arab propaganda, there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as the supply of food and medicine and other commodities from Israel has not been stopped even when Hamas and other terrorist groups launch missiles over the border. But the Islamist rulers of the strip have imposed their own distorted values on the people of the area. That means the creation of a totalitarian state apparatus that has made Gaza a little piece of Iran on the Mediterranean.

Should Israel ever fully withdraw from the West Bank as it did from Gaza in 2005, there is every chance that Hamas will win control of that area too, whether by coup or elections. At that point, Israel could find itself under siege from terrorists in charge of areas adjacent to its population centers creating a security crisis that will lead inevitably to more violence. But the other part of this equation will mean that the oppression of Palestinians by their own people will be complete rather than partial. That is something those who are eager to open up trade with Gaza or to further empower its rulers should consider.


http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/03/05/welcome-to-iran-on-the-mediterranean/