This video released by the IDF illuminates the ugly nature of the enemy it faces daily and against which it finally struck back last year in Operation Cast Lead. It is the enemy that is otherwise painted as martyrs and innocents by the world press, likely in the paper you read every day. If, that is, you are among the diminishing few who still read newspapers.

Without further interruption, I present to you (via the IDF), Hamas.

Did you know that Hamas is negotiating a ceasefire with Israel?

There has been speculation that a cease-fire deal is close.

However, Hamas official said Saturday that new problems have come up. Hamas wants an 18-month cease-fire. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum says Israel created new obstacles by seeking an open-ended cease-fire.

Yes, you read that right. Hamas is upset because Israel wants to permanently end the fighting between the 2 foes. Hamas wants to end the fighting, but only for a period of time necessary for them to rearm and dig more tunnels…say….18 months or so. Then all bets are off.

I say it constantly….what kind of people are these? And how can we have anything except for the deepest sympathy for the Israeli people?

How to fix this?

Violence marred the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as Hamas gunmen fired mortar shells into Israel and opened fire on IDF troops who remained inside the Palestinian territory.

In the afternoon, IAF aircraft bombed a mortar launcher in the Gaza Strip that had been used hours earlier to fire some eight mortar shells into the Negev. It was the first air strike against Gaza since Israel unilaterally implemented a cease-fire there on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Gaza gunmen fired at IDF patrols in two separate incidents that marked the first violations of the cease-fire Hamas accepted on Sunday after the IDF began withdrawing its forces from Gaza.

via IAF strikes Kassam launchers in Gaza | Israel | Jerusalem Post.

To me, this illuminates a large characteristic of Hamas (and terrorists in general) that doesn’t ever get much play in the press. Forget that they’re Islamists and that they are possessed of the radical and violent idea that they shall one day by fire take over the earth and subject all inhabitants to Shar’ia law. Forget that. Forget also that they are backed by nation states like Iran and Syria and supported the world over in thoughts and deeds by ‘moderate’ muslims. Forget that. The most important thing to keep in mind when we read about groups like Hamas or Hezbollah or al-Qaeda is that they themselves are not nation-states. They don’t pretend to act as leaders of people who trust them with their protection like the leaders of the civilized world do. Instead, they are the equivalent of an organized (and heavily funded and armed) street gang. Imagine the Crips and the Bloods each being funded by Cuba and unleashed on the poor citizens of South Central Los Angeles.

The thing about nations and leaders of nations, is that beyond all the rhetoric, at some level, they act as protectors of their people. When leaders speak and act, they do so with the knowledge that what they say and do can and will have repercussions on the people whom they are sworn to protect–innocent civilians. This tempers them. Or at least, it should. This is why Iran, as crazy as it is, at least is trying to get the world to believe that they’re not developing means and methods to weaponize nuclear power. They’re lying, of course, but because they say the right things, the civilized world must engage. At least to a point.

Not so with Hamas as witnessed by their breaking of the ceasefire yesterday. They hurl rockets at Israel and stand at the border shaking their fists and sticking out their tongues. When they are slapped back, they hide among innocents and wait for the barrage to stop. When it does, they come out from their rat holes and start chucking rockets again. These people are the thug street warriors of nation states like Iran and Syria—who must on the surface appear to be civilized and engaging of diplomacy, but who secretly (and not so secretly) fund these gangs to wreak terror and destruction on Israel—using the poor civilians of Palestine as pawns.

Hamas does not care about protecting Palestinians. In fact, their goals and ambitions are fulfilled when as many Palestinians are put in jeopardy as possible.

This very important fact is lost in most reports from Gaza. Hamas is not a leader of a nation state. They are not there to protect Palestinians. Their job is to take Iran’s money and weapons, hold the Palestinians hostage, and extort concessions from Israel. That’s it. They are no more dignified than a street gang. They deserve no diplomacy with any serious nation on earth. They deserve only to be marginalized, starved out, and eliminated. They have no legitimate grievance. These are not Palestinians people rising up from the yolk of oppression like in Red Dawn and striking back at evil overlords. These are proxies of Iran who care nothing for the Palestinian cause (such as it is) except to exploit it for the greater good of Iran.

And we get all bent out of shape when our government listens in on our phone calls to terrorists. Imagine the outrage on the left if our government did this:

Hamas militiamen have rounded up hundreds of Fatah activists on suspicion of “collaboration” with Israel during Operation Cast Lead, Fatah members in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

They said the Hamas crackdown on Fatah intensified after the cease-fire went into effect early Sunday morning.

The Fatah members and eyewitnesses said the detainees were being held in school buildings and hospitals that Hamas had turned into make-shift interrogation centers.

According to the official, at least three of the detainees had their eyes put out by their interrogators, who accused them of providing Israel with wartime information about the location of Hamas militiamen and officials.

Ok, this is more than a little creepy.

On January 10, the war between Israel and Hamas became a global conflict. No longer confined to the Gaza Strip, the fighting spread to cities around the world: what were billed as “anti-war” demonstrations from Los Angeles to Copenhagen and beyond were in fact overtly pro-Hamas demonstrations, and on Saturday, January 10 there was a unprecedented eruption of violence and extremism in dozens of European and American cities, surpassing anything seen at anti-war rallies in recent years:

¤ In London, protesters physically attacked police officers with unrestrained abandon and no fear of arrest;
¤ In Copenhagen, Hamas supporters screamed in public that they want to kill all Jews;
¤ In Calgary, neo-Nazis marched alongside leftists and Muslim extremists, in a grand coalition of anti-Semites;
¤ In Los Angeles, a car full of Israel-supporters barely escaped serious harm when an enraged mob tried to attack them;
¤ In Duisberg (Germany), police broke into a private home and tore down a flag displaying a Star of David, to appease stone-throwing protesters;
¤ In Belfast, an Israel-owned mall kiosk was surrounded and menacingly harrassed;
…to name just a few, as you will see in the reports listed below.

It’s big.

Choose your side.

Regarding the plight of Gaza, remember this: Between 1948, when Israel was created, and 1967, when Israel captured Gaza in a defensive war, the Gaza Strip was administered by Egypt. During those 19 years, the Egyptians never offered citizenship to the Palestinians living in Gaza, nor did they permit them free transit from the Strip into Egypt proper. They did nothing to encourage the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In fact, in 1958, Egypt’s President Nasser formally annulled the so-called “All Palestine Government” — a remnant of the Palestinian state the Arabs rejected in 1948. Egypt, like all of the other Arab states and, importantly, the U.N., chose to keep the Palestinians bereft and stateless — a permanent and growing dagger aimed at Israel.

Even more instructive is this: When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Gaza’s residents had a golden opportunity to begin to build the sort of state they have claimed to desire. The Israelis even left behind the infrastructure to give the Palestinians a start: roads, houses, swimming pools, fish farms, nurseries, orchards, and factories. The Palestinians chose to kill each other (see Jonathan Schanzer’s new book, “Hamas vs. Fatah”) and to fire missiles across the border at Israel instead. Apologists like Columbia’s Rashid Khalidi protest that Israel continued to control sea lanes, borders, and air space around Gaza and cut off aid after the Palestinians elected Hamas. Well, Hamas didn’t seem to have any trouble importing longer and longer-range Iranian missiles despite Israel’s blockade. And in any case, despite the advice of some hardliners in Israel, the Israeli government continued to permit humanitarian supplies through.

via Mona Charen : Camera-Ready Victims – Townhall.com.

Yes, feel sorry for innocent Palestinians, such as there may be, but do not condemn Israel for treating them exactly the way their so-called leaders and allies want them to be treated. A peaceful solution to the conflict in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East is the last thing that Hamas, Israel or Iran wants.

The horror’s the thing, don’t you get it?

As for Khalidi and his fellow travellers (and you know who you are!), what sort of unholy hell do you think Hamas might have unleashed on Israel had they had open airspace, sea lanes and borders at their disposals too?

Two captured terrorists interviewed by Maariv/NRG say that Hamas was not expecting Israel’s response to the escalation in missile attacks on Israeli targets that preceded Operation Cast Lead. One of them, a 52-year-old victim of a premature detonation who had already done time in an Israeli jail, said, “Hamas took a gamble. We thought, at worst Israel will come and do something from the air – something superficial. They’ll come in and go out. We never thought that we would reach the point where fear will swallow the heart and the feet will want to flee. You [Israel] are fighting like you fought in ‘48. What got into you all of a sudden?”

The second terrorist, a 21-year-old, said Hamas brought order to Gaza, but also brought fear. He noted that it was dangerous in Gaza for non-Hamas members, citing an instance of his being beaten and another in which he saw a friend killed when he went to get gas. “Now they’re all gone,” he said. “There have been no Hamasniks in the streets since the start of the campaign.”

via “Iranian Unit” Destroyed, Hamas was Suprised – Defense/Middle East – Israel News – Israel National News.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Witnesses say Israeli ground troops are advancing into crowded residential areas of Gaza City and thousands of terrified residents are fleeing their homes.

Israeli troops backed by helicopter gunships, tanks and heavy guns thrust deeper into the city than ever before Thursday to seek Hamas fighters, they said.

It wasn’t clear whether this would be a brief foray or signal a new phase in Israel’s devastating offensive against Gaza’s Islamic Hamas rulers.

Israel has balked at launching all-out urban warfare in Gaza City, where Hamas militants are more familiar with the lay of the land and Israeli casualties would be liable to spiral.

Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 to stop militant rocket fire on southern Israel from Gaza.

via Israeli troops advance deep into Gaza City (AP).

A few things to note:

Who are these “witnesses” in Gaza that are feeding the AP with information? Likely either members of Hamas itself or civilians under direct threat from such members.

Are these areas “residential”? Perhaps nominally so, but as we have seen, it is a military strategy of Hamas to position their installations in these residential areas, including in schools, hospitals and mosques. Israel is about to embark into these “residential” areas because this is where the rockets are coming from.

Why would Israeli casualties “be liable to spiral” in residential areas? Is the AP admitting that Gaza City is not really a residential area?

Finally, if Israel began this whole thing on 12/27 in order to “stop militant rocket fire”, can it really justifiably be described as an “offensive”? I’d venture to say that “defensive” would be the more accurate term.

The AP . . . as offensive as ever.

“Radicals” burn Obama posters in Iran (Wizbang).

The irony for me is that when pictures of any Republican (ie. Bush) were burned in various parts of the Middle East for any one of a number of assumed offenses, it became the media’s symbol that we were not liked around the world and that this was a bad thing that could be fixed by merely talking to the lunatics doing the burning.

Now that a Democrats are being burned…and the TOP shiny lovely smells like the back of a baby’s neck after a bath Democrat who has promised to talk to groups like Hamas and Iran on top of that…how to react?

I know what I’M thinking….and that is that radical Islamists will burn just about anything they can get their hands on…including each other…if given the chance. Take none of their complaints seriously. Instead, go to school on their actions.

Then crush them.

Hamas, of course. For booby trapping a zoo. Oh yeah, and a school too. With children and stuff.

Real freedom fighters, these.

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