The whole charade going on now in the “Palestinian” Authority is absurd — absurd even in the eyes of those carrying it on in stage whispers. Abbas pretends to “convince” Hamas to utter some meaningless formula which he declares to them is meaningless, don’t worry, and yet at the same time Condoleeza Rice and others in the American government and of course in the E.U. and assorted member states all wait with bated breath for the phony words uttered phonily — so that the Jizyah may be resumed. The Infidel peoples over whom these rulers rule do not wish to pay this Jizyah, but their rulers, because they are of a terrifying mediocrity, do not know how to stop it, do not dare to stop it.
There is no “solution” to the Arab and Muslim siege of Israel. Israel sits on land that was once possessed by Muslims. Its size is irrelevant. It cannot conceivably, in Muslim and Arab eyes, be allowed to permanently exist. The only quarrel between Abbas and Hamas is over tactics and timing. Abbas wants the Slow Jihad of growing economic pressure, diplomatic isolation, and internal demographic conquest — all with Israel as the victim. Hamas wants the Fast Jihad, and no pretense of ever acquiescing to Israel’s existence.
Slow Jihad, Fast Jihad — there is no difference as far as Israel’s final fate is concerned. And not only did Muhammad counsel that “war is deception” but, in the Treaty of Al-Hudaibiyya he showed just how Muslims should regard all agreements made with Infidels. And the way in which he first signed and then, as soon as he felt that he was strong enough, broke the treaty and attacked the Meccans, has been held up as the model for all time, for all treaties between Muslims and Infidels. This is clearly understood by everyone in the Muslim world. It is written about, endlessly. It is spoken about, endlessly. It can be found in an excellent guide written by Majid Khadduri. (Fouad Ajami is the “Majid Khadduri Professor” of something or other at Johns Hopkins. Does Fouad Ajami know what Majid Khadduri so carefully explained about Muslim views of treaty-making with Infidels? If he doesn’t, he should. If he does, and if he is not a fake, then he has an obligation to convey such knowledge to the American officials who are so impressed with him, and to the wider public.)
And the moral of all this? Israel must give up nothing more. It should have permanently annexed in June 1967 everything it took, but who then knew about Islam in the Israeli government? And more importantly, who in the Israeli government knows a sufficient amount now?
Because if the Israeli government understood the permanent nature of the implacable Muslim and Arab hostility, rooted in the immutable texts of Islam, including in those texts the acts and words of Muhammad as recorded in Hadith and Sira and understood by all Muslim jurisconsults, then the nonsense of further surrender of territory critical to Israel’s survival would end. Israel has legal, moral, and historic title to that territory, not least by the preamble and express provisions of the Mandate for Palestine established by the League of Nations.
Here’s a final suggestion. This is what Abbas and the “Palestinians” must be asked to do. Not to repeat a vague formula such as “we recognize Israel’s existence” (i.e., the fact that it presently exists.) Not any such transparent fudging and nonsense.
No, that will not do. Here is what must be done, and would be done by an Israeli government that knew where to put its feet and hands. That government should raise the issue of Muslim treaty-making. It should bring forth to the attention of the world what Majid Khadduri so ably set down: the principles of Muslim jurisprudence applicable to all agreements made with Infidels. The Israeli government should discuss, at great length, in public, whether or not Muslims can be expected to abide by any treaty made with Infidels, when both the clear doctrine, and the practice, of Islam tell us otherwise.
That’s it. Abbas and Hamas and all the Arabs and Muslims must forswear the principles that have for 1350 years governed the attitude of Muslims toward agreements with Infidels.
That has to be publicized. That has to be put as an explicit condition. Nothing less can be accepted.
And that goes for all Infidel governments everywhere — not least for the current administration now making an utter mess in Iraq and with the so-called “Palestinians,” who are merely the local Arab shock troops of the endless siege of Israel.