Israeli Pullout and Abbas

I am hardly an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian situation as it presently stands. However, I was reading an article about it recently and had a few thoughts.

Israel is pulling out of the Gaza Strip. So long as the Palestinians can enforce order when Israel is gone, I’d say this is a move in the right direction. “But they’re appeasing the terrorists!” some might say. This is untrue. Pulling out when the Palestinians were led by Arafat and by terrorists would have been giving in. However, Abbas has been taking at least some steps to force the terrorists to stand down. Among other things, he helped negotiate a lengthy cease-fire between Israel and some of the major terrorist organizations. The legitimate Palestinian police have also been cracking down on militants in Gaza.

Abbas vows to hold the next series of elections on schedule. Some fear that Hamas will gain even more political power. That may very well occur, but there is nothing to fear from such an event. First off, consistent elections are a must regardless of who wins. Postponing or canceling elections outright would be detrimental to the new democratic system. I predict terrorist attacks will actually decrease as democracy flourishes. How can that be when groups like Hamas get a voice in government? That’s simple enough. If you outlaw a group (like the communists for example) they have no outlet. That means their members are more inclined to commit acts of violence to get their message heard and they may get sympathy from an understanding public. However, if you induce such a group to join the political realm, they now have to worry about elections and actual policy rather than terrorism. The goal is always that they’ll have a small percentage of the representatives so they can’t complain about not being represented, but they don’t have enough to actually accomplish anything. Hamas gaining a majority has me somewhat concerned but I think even with that, after a year or two they will start moderating their stands and limiting their attacks to name calling. The game of politics has a tendency to do that.

Do the Palestinians as a people deserve their own state? If they can govern responsibly and live at peace with their neighbors, the answer is yes. Just as much as the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia are allowed to be separate (they both used to be the same country-Czechoslovakia). Based on what I’ve heard, I have enough confidence in Abbas to be cautiously optimistic. When Arafat died, the age of terrorism, despotism and corruption among Palestinian Arabs also died. We are entering the era of responsible leadership, of democracy, and of politics.