Daniel Greenfield article: It's
Time to End the Blockade of Gaza

Posted: 06 Jun 2010 08:03 PM PDT

Like virtually every political step Israel has taken since 1991, the
Disengagement from Gaza and the blockade of Hamas was done under the
assumption that if Israel took the most moderate path possible (short of
actual national suicide) the world community would be reasonable about it
and work together to isolate the "extremists" and stabilize the region.
That assumption has been repeatedly shown to be false. The world is not
interested in being reasonable. It has no litmus test that Muslim
terrorists can ever fail, and no test that Israel can ever pass.

Israel's Border Wall and the Blockade of
Gaza were bare minimum attempts by Israel to isolate itself from the
terrorists, and isolate the terrorists from their arms suppliers in Iran
and Syria. Not only did Israel give a free hand to Hamas, an Islamic group
whose sole purpose is to wipe it out, but it continued allowing in aid and
even provided medical assistance to Gaza residents. Both the Wall and the
Blockade had the initial backing of the United States and a number of
European governments. After all blockades were not a new tactic to the US
and every country understood the legitimacy of having a border fence to
protect your own border.

But instead, the Wall was dubbed the
Apartheid Wall, despite the fact that there were about as many Arabs on
one side of it as another, and that the Arabs on the other side of it
claimed to be members of a separate Palestinian nation. And the Blockade
was redefined as Israeli piracy and oppression against the not
particularly starving "People of Gaza". The Obama administration along
with Europe is now calling for an end to the blockade. And Israel has a
choice between either fighting a continuous war against naval incursions
from Turkey and Iran, with leftist "Human Shields" to provide cover for
the terrorists-- or reclaiming control over Gaza and driving out
Hamas.

The arguments for reclaiming Gaza are straightforward
enough.

The situation as it stands cannot be settled through any
form of negotiation, as Hamas has made it clear that under no
circumstances will it accept any form of permanent peace agreement, only
temporary truces. The world is no longer demanding that Israel negotiate
with terrorists, as it had in the past with the PLO. Instead it is
demanding that Israel stop interfering with the terrorists. Not because
this will bring peace through negotiations, but because they have accepted
the national claims of Hamas, a genocidal Islamist terrorist organization.
This is obviously an unsustainable and unacceptable demand.

Despite numerous attempts to find "moderates" willing to
negotiate, Hamas remains dedicated to working together with Iran for the
planned genocide of the Jews. Its charter contains
the quote: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims
fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones
and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a
Jew behind me, come and kill him" as its raison d'etre. And as the
world is no longer willing to back Israel's passive approach to containing
Hamas-- then the country has no choice but to move to active
suppression.

Since the attempts by Islamist regimes in Iran and
Turkey to aid Hamas now have the approval of the world, further attempts
to maintain the blockade are futile. The blockade of Gaza was based on the
idea that Israel could isolate Hamas and thereby peacefully remove it from
power. Instead Muslim regimes and left wing activists have instead once
again isolated Israel. The mistake that Israel made once again was to
imagine that reasonable behavior would produce cooperation. Instead once
again the world rewards Islamic terrorists and punishes their
victims.

Furthermore, Israel left Gaza, and forcibly
ethnically cleansed Jewish towns and villages in the area, as part of an
understanding with the US on the status of other Jewish towns and
villages. The Obama administration has since then chosen to not only
ignore that understanding, but to expand its definition of "settlements"
to include Jews living in Jerusalem. The Obama administration has
unilaterally revoked the understanding reached with Israel that was the
basis for the Gaza Disengagement. As such Israel has every right to
reverse its own disengagement.

By leaving Gaza alone and only
monitoring its borders and coastlines, Israel displayed superhuman
patience and tolerance for terrorists. But if the world refuses to back a
naval blockade, then Israel has no choice but to take control of the
ground. If the Obama administration refuses to accept the understanding on
which Israel's original withdrawal was based, then it is time to reverse
that withdrawal. The ongoing imprisonment of Gilad Shalit, Hamas' own
atrocities against fellow Arabs and the presence of Al Queda in Gaza-- are
all additional factors that demand action.

The world's implicit
endorsement of Hamas territorial rights leaves Israel with only two
choices, to allow Hamas to function as a country, or to reclaim the area
and shut Hamas down for good. Since Hamas is not willing to negotiate a
permanent peace agreement and remains dedicated to terrorism and war, the
former option is completely unworkable. Especially with Iran, Syria and
Turkey being all too eager to arm and use Hamas as a proxy to justify a
war with Israel. The latter option then is the only one that remains on
the table. Either Israel will retake Gaza now, or it will have to retake
it as part of a regional war. Retaking it now will mean less bloodshed on
both sides. And possibly avoid a regional conflict.

Right now Hamas
is playing the Volksdeutsche to Iran's Germany and Israel's
Czechoslovakia. Spurious claims of civil rights are being used to carve
Israel up in preparation for a full invasion. And the likes of Ahmadinejad
and Erdogan are competing over who will play Der Fuhrer and who will play
Il Duce in this scenario. A full fledged Hamas state in Gaza will be an
Iranian barracks and naval base inside Israel. And once Israel concedes on
the sea, it will have to concede on the air too. Because the same
"activists" who sail ships, will be able to rent planes too. And Israel
will not be able to board those mid-air. It will have to choose between
shooting them down and creating more "martyrs" and world outrage, or
letting Iran ferry weapons through the air directly into its
territory.

As of now, Egypt does not want Gaza. Fatah is
not prepared to retake Gaza. Hamas is absolutely unwilling to negotiate a
permanent peace agreement. The only thing left for Israel to do is retake
Gaza, drive out Hamas and reassert control over the area. This will lead
to short term violence, but long term peace. As opposed to the current
scenario adopted by the Obama administration which leads to both short
term violence and long term catastrophe.

The blockade of Gaza has
failed. Not because of Israel, but because the world could not make the
right choice between a democratic country and a genocidal terrorist group
that is second cousins with Al Queda. The blockade was Israel's concession
to terrorism, a passive enforcement of its borders and interdiction of
arms smuggling. The passive response is dead now. It's time to retake Gaza
or face the consequences.