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No Jihad in Gaza, Says George Washington U’s Nathan Brown

Aug 3, 2015 3:22 pm By Andrew Harrod

Nathan BrownCurrent Middle East Studies Association (MESA) president and George Washington University political science professor Nathan Brown downplayed Hamas’s long history of terrorism on July 23 at the anti-Israel Jerusalem Fund think tank in Washington, DC. He and others on a panel titled “Gaza in Context: Broader Implications in the Palestinian Plight” claimed that the Islamic supremacism of Hamas and, increasingly, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is mere nationalism before an audience of forty.

Former Jerusalem Fund and current U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation director Yousef Munayyer opened the panel with a proclamation worthy of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce: “Gaza can be a hub of commerce and industry” with “tremendous potential to once again be an engine of success and prosperity.” Yet the Gaza strip became a threat to Israel after it relinquished the area in 2005 to Palestinians who were more interested in ransacking and militarizing donated Israeli greenhouses than engaging in commerce.  Noting that Gaza, with 1.8 million inhabitants, is the largest Palestinian city, Munayyer asserted that the “most valuable resource to the Palestinian nation is perhaps its population,” a claim belied by Hamas’s frequent use of such “resources” as human shields for propaganda against Israel.

In his presentation, Brown observed blandly that Palestinians “sometimes . . . don’t make the choices that international diplomacy would like them to make,” as if Hamas was simply a political party.  Palestinian self-determination is something the “international community has heartily endorsed, so long as Palestinians make the right choices,” he added.  Without naming either perpetrator or victim, Brown vaguely referred to “episodic violence” involving Gaza.  He cited a Palestinian Hamas supporter who, in reference to Israel’s 2014 Protective Edge military campaign in Gaza, wondered, “what would have happened if Hamas had given up arms,” implying that Hamas was merely defending itself.

Brown sought a “reconstruction of Palestinian politics” that might create “fresh Palestinian leadership” who could resume a peace process with Israel.  This Palestinian “new blood” would “sketch out realistic programs to their own people” and “rebuild some kind of grassroots popular movement,” he predicted.  He could not cite any period when Palestinians have ever had responsible, democratic leadership, but instead called for the “unfreezing of the really problematic authoritarian environment in both the West Bank and Gaza.”

As for accepting “Hamas as a legitimate political player within Palestinian society, both domestically and internationally,” Brown insisted that, although a large “stumbling block,” it would induce Hamas to relinquish power in Gaza. Stating the obvious, he admitted that Hamas is not interested in the “idea of administering Gaza” as a “governing municipal authority.”  In contrast, Brown accused Israel of trying “to keep tight control” on the “freeing of Palestinian political life.” Yet Israel abandoned control over most daily Palestinian affairs under the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The eagerness of both panelists to legitimize Hamas became even more obvious during the question and answer period. When asked by an audience member whether the U.S. could “stop branding Hamas as an international sponsor of terrorism,” Munayyer responded that, although he did not “see that happening in the near term,” American policy has long sought a “negotiated solution with leaders who do not have the mandate to deliver.”  To be “seriously for a negotiated solution . . . one cannot be seen as credible if not working for a representative and unified Palestinian partner,” which, for Munayyer, includes Hamas jihadists. Yet, he alleged, “pro-Israel interest groups” and “domestic political interests get in the way of advancing foreign policy.”

Such is the Jerusalem Fund’s alternative universe in which neither Hamas, the PA, nor a “unity government” presents any existential threat to Israel or the wider world. Political scientists such as Brown see Palestinians as just another national self-determination movement struggling against oppression. This willful moral and intellectual myopia denies the Palestinians’ embrace of Islamic supremacism—a fact that precludes their acceptance of Israel’s existence.

Andrew E. Harrod is a freelance researcher and writer who holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a JD from George Washington University Law School. He is a fellow with the Lawfare Project; follow him on twitter at @AEHarrod. He wrote this essay for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.

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Filed Under: academia, Useful idiots, willful ignorance Tagged With: Nathan Brown


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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    The ‘Palestinian Plight’ is that they have surrendered their power to bands of conscienceless thugs. The huge MELODRAMA and PSYCHODRAMA of Palestine is nurtured by Arab states that don’t want to admit their forbears accepted the creation of Israel and then reneged on their agreements with Britain.

    Nathan Brown is an academic who has bought into the unhistorical melodrama of Arab dispossession. Arabs snuck into the Palestine Mandate to work for Jewish entrepreneurs in the 1920s and 1930s. He claims, “Gaza can be a hub of commerce and industry”. Maybe, but only if the calm, rational Israelis return to run those industries.

    Arabs are mostly living in a sick PSYCHODRAMA of entitlement and supremacism.

    • Lia Wissing says

      Aug 4, 2015 at 4:56 am

      Could ‘Brown’ be a nom de plume for ‘Brownnosed idiot’?

      • Oliver says

        Aug 4, 2015 at 4:39 pm

        I think that you are right, it is a nom de plume

    • Oliver says

      Aug 4, 2015 at 4:39 pm

      Arabs STILL sneak into the “settlements” to work for Jewish Israelis. the reason- the Jews will pay them. With their “Muslim brethren”– it is a weak maybe (meaning usually no).

      (I have friends-Jews- who live in the ‘settlements”– and have for years.).

      By the way, Abbas recently started his (I believe) 10th (if not, 8th) year of his 4 year term. GAZA HAS NOT HAD ELECTIONS IN ABOUT 6 OR SO YEARS.

      And the fifties bitch about Israeli elections and comments that Bibi made.

      • Oliver says

        Aug 5, 2015 at 3:16 pm

        3rd word-last sentence- LEFTIES.

  2. Angemon says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    He and others on a panel titled “Gaza in Context: Broader Implications in the Palestinian Plight”

    At least they’re not trying to pass as being impartial, I guess…

  3. Westman says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    Islam commerce makes me think of sap tapping of Maple trees to make syrup.

    It is Muhammad’s Quranic supremist example of robbing “infidels” that prevails as a mindset. Hamas has no intention of being the tree any more than Saudi Royals intend to labor in the oil fields.

  4. Alarmed Pig Farmer says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    Middle East Studies Association (MESA) president and George Washington University…

    Except for a few scholars like Spencer, Raymond Ibrahim, Dr. Bostom, M.D., Ibn Warraq and maybe a dozen others, there *is* no Middle East studying going on. This guy is the usual lazy-ass confused professor serving up helpings of happy horseshit doggerel to anybody stupid enough to read it, including his students, such as they are.

    As far as I know, Spencer and that crowd have no organization. It would be potentially fatal for them to convene a meeting. But let me guess: the egregious Daniel Pipes, Harvard Man, I bet he’s a due paying member of MESA.

    • yuval Brandstetter MD says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 7:51 am

      Doggerel is a dance, not an intestinal product
      But the point is clear. Its a club. the club of the jew-haters. No one either jew loving or impartial can be accepted to the club. If you want into the club you must present your jew-hating credentials, otherwise Raus, no jew or dog served here.

  5. jihad3tracker says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    If readers here could use a minor laugh, here we go :

    I had a cup o’ joe with very nice guy Andrew Harrod (author above) in November 2012, to discuss an idea percolating in my Swiss-cheese mind. I remarked about his dual degrees, praising the dedication and work of such an distinction. His reply: “Well, my mother thought that since I already had the Ph.D., why not get a J.D. too?” As if he just rolled out of bed in pajamas onto campus and it was eventually automatically conferred . . .

    BTW, he was covering one of the dig-for-truth-at-all-times confabulations at Georgetown’s ACMCU Prince Alwaleed Saudi $$$$$$ events several years ago and approached gutter thug Nathan Lean. Asking Lean a forbidden direct question, this typical fascist-supremacist coward “turned curtly on his heels”, muttered a terror stricken excuse, and essentially ran away.

    Do a search of relevant words here on JW and it will probably pop up.

  6. Western Canadian says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    OFF TOPIC BUT NOT REALLY OFF TOPIC!!
    If you haven’t already done so, go to this site and scroll to the bottom, and watch the video on the halal food racket!! A real eye opener, as to the fraud of halal certification, which is just another money mill for islam, in case you hadn’t already noticed that it was.

    http://halalchoices.com.au/

    They also sell reasonably priced booklets on what foods have been certified as hellal (note proper spelling!), which includes everything from soups to nuts, as well as some cat foods….
    Trust me, no cat with an ounce of self respect or pride, would ever be a muslim!!

    For Canadians, try this website, useful, but does not list all major grocery chains.

    http://www.canadianhalalfoods.com/supermarket_products.html?panna=3

    View the video, even knowledgeable AJ’ers are liekly to be stunned by it.

    • jihad3tracker says

      Aug 3, 2015 at 5:33 pm

      Thank you, W.C. —- By the way, how far west are you? Ten meters from your front door, dive in, next stop Japan?

      • Western Canadian says

        Aug 4, 2015 at 9:44 pm

        Not that far…. You’d have to burrow through some incredibly beautiful mounts first…

    • Oliver says

      Aug 4, 2015 at 4:47 pm

      I have a friend in the mid west (US) who some years ago, with a friend, started a small food company making a glatt kosher ( sort of super kosher) product. (I did not know the person then, and forgot what he told me the product was). Anyhow, some Imam or similar from Chicago called him, and ordered the item.

      he then asked if he could buy it wholesale, and rebrand it as hallel foods? His next statements (as I was told) blew the Jewish men away–he knew if it was glatt kosher, it was made properly, in a sanitary plant, and not with impurities or dirt, etc. Hallel foods, he went on, he did not trust; he tried to buy Kosher

  7. Wellington says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 7:59 pm

    Talk about missing the big picture. Oh yeah, this one’s a winner.

  8. Nimrod says

    Aug 3, 2015 at 10:40 pm

    The majority of academics have been indoctrinated into believing that everything, absolutely everything, is some sort of Marxist class struggle. It’s as though they believe that everyone is just instinctively following neo-Marxist ideology regardless of what they say or do, and thus their behavior can always be modeled in neo-Marxist conflict theory terms.

    This is as absurd as believing that all computers of the same architecture are necessarily running the same software as well. It is absurd beyond belief yet this is what passes for education.

    • el-cid says

      Aug 4, 2015 at 9:41 am

      And, if they don’t actually believe in this Marxist model, they pay lip service to ensure they get tenured. There are things that cannot be said, such as support for Zionism or to question the idea of a Palestinian people or state.

      Any truly strategic discussion about Gaza would include details about the tribal factions and their alliances outside, and of course, would take into account key ideological dimensions such as what is being preached in the local mosques and what is taught in school. This analysis cannot be done because it would question the unity of the so–called Palestinian people, a nation that does not exist and never existed.

      Another key factor is external interference by those who wish to destroy the world order and see Gaza as a natural place to foment trouble, e.g. IS and Iran.

      Another critical dimension to discuss is the UN’s self-perpetuating bureaucracy aimed solely at the problem of so-called Palestinian Refugees and it’s enormous budget. UNRWA is rewarded for NOT resolving the refugee problem. At a time when there are millions of Arab refugees that need help, it is literally disgusting the resources and mindshare that are wasted here. Wasted means diverted into conflict rather than constructive ends. How are these facts not a major focus of any strategy for positive change?

      An assessment of other states in the region would lead a rational person to see that Gaza with or without parts of the West Bank is not a viable state as is understood in the world order. There is nothing to create a nation and economy with strong internal security. A natural solution to consider would be to make it part of Egypt once again so that a strong security apparatus can bring order on the streets and allow people to finally get to work.

      • Oliver says

        Aug 4, 2015 at 5:53 pm

        Not in JW but (surprisingly, in Yahoo and AO-anal pore) news-about 10 or so days ago. (As to “Palestinian people being “united”).

        A top military aide to Abbas WENT TO A PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP IN LEBANON. (AS PER THE ARTICLE-I DID NOT CHECK IF ACCURATE) THERE ARE 12 “PALESTINIAN” REFUGEE CAMPS IN LEBANON) (WHY NO UN INVESTIGATION? OH WAIT, ISRAEL IS NOT INVOLVED). ANYHOW-HE AND ONE OF HIS 2 BODYGUARDS WERE BLOWN AWAY. (Other seriously wounded).

        THE LEBANESE MILITARY AND POLICE DO NOT ENTER THESE CAMPS-THEY ARE (I laughed at this) SELF POLICED. In the next sentence- there is a great deal of violence in these camps, as there are rival factions; hatreds, etc.

        Truly the makings for a state.

  9. JIMJFOX says

    Aug 4, 2015 at 12:10 am

    “what would have happened if Hamas had given up arms,”

    If the Muslims put down their weapons today there would be no more violence.
    If the Israelis put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel. 

    • Oliver says

      Aug 5, 2015 at 3:19 pm

      I believe Golda Meir said that, along with “IF they loved their children as much as they hate us, their would be peace”.

  10. duh_swami says

    Aug 4, 2015 at 8:30 am

    Just another spoke in the wheel of self deception…The wheel of life spins to the ‘right’…The wheel of death spins to the ‘left’…All Mahoundians and their dhimmi supporters and apologists spin to the ‘left’…

  11. pongidae rex says

    Aug 4, 2015 at 9:25 am

    In 1948 there were less than one million Palestinians. Today, there are over 11 million with the highest birthrates on the planet, brainwashing their children to be terrorist footsoldiers for Islamic Jihad. That is the ‘plight’ of the Palestinians.

  12. Lioness says

    Aug 4, 2015 at 10:48 am

    If it wasn’t for Israel, everyone in the PA would starve to death. Israel is pouring millions upon millions in aid, food, medicine, provides their water and electricity and supplies them with goods. “Palestinians” work in Israel and get decent wages – those that want to work and not wage jihad. Israel should stop supplying them and leave them to fend for themselves. If that happens maybe the alarming obesity rate in the PA would go down.

  13. Peter Charles says

    Aug 4, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    The Gazans are actually Bedouin nomads trapped in the Gaza strip by the ARAB nations. The Arab nations, the mid east Egypt and Libya could absorb them and not even notice. But they refused in 1948 and still do today. The true Palestinians live in Israel.

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