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Militants hear fewer cheers:
Palestinians long for state, not state of war

Opinion by Daniel Lubetzky
Atlanta Journal Constitution
August 14, 2006

An instinctive pleasure fills many Palestinians' hearts when Israel is attacked by Hezbollah.

But after their emotional release, I observed on my recent trip to Gaza that Palestinians are starting to complain - in private for now - about the negative repercussions of any association with foreign militants.

Radical groups and outcast nations wrap themselves in the mantle of the Palestinian cause to advance ulterior goals, besmirching Palestinians' legitimate quest for sovereignty.

While the popular reflex is still to blame Israel for the current war, Palestinian business leaders, intellectuals and imams are starting to connect the dots. They recognize that rocket attacks from Lebanon and Gaza make Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank far less likely as Israelis are greeted with attacks from the very places they withdrew.

Hezbollah, prodded by Iran, is trying to reassert its existence - at the expense of the Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian people.

Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the military wing of Hamas, all funded by Iran and commandeered out of Syria, along with al-Qaida, proclaim themselves the heroes of the Palestinian cause, associating the Palestinian quest for statehood with apocalyptic visions and barbaric actions that alienate the public.

Preventing a secular and democratic Palestinian nation is consistent with Hamas' vision of establishing an Islamic trust across the entire region, but inconsistent with the creation of a vibrant open and free nation. The Islamization of the conflict would at best yield a regressive state. Realistically it will mean no Palestinian state, just a permanent state of war.

Syria's motivations include achieving relevance through its leverage over Hezbollah and diverting attention from its problems. As Lebanese Parliamentarian Walid Jumblatt stated, "The hidden agenda prods Syria to brag about Lebanon's weakness without Damascus's help - and gives Syria a motive to draw attention away from the international court" investigating Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Prolonging and inflaming the conflict primarily serves Iran's needs. It is telling that every escalation over the last nine months by Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas took place precisely one day before Iran's performance was to be evaluated by an international body.

Arab leaders' remarkable initial stance against Hezbollah can be understood in this context. Saudi Arabia chastised "uncalculated adventures undertaken by elements in Lebanon."

Iran's nuclear threat against Israel would similarly decimate Palestinians. While Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad may be comforted that good Muslims would ascend to heaven, most Palestinians would not want him to reach that decision for them. Religious Palestinian authorities, including the Imam of the Dome of the Rock, have begun declining Iran's apocalyptic prescriptions.

But one need not wait for nuclear explosions before Palestinian and Arab citizens are harmed. Hezbollah's Katyusha and Kassam rocket attacks have harmed Israeli Arabs in Haifa, Rajar, Majd al-Krum and Nazareth. This is besides the Lebanese killed by Israeli missiles targeting Hezbollah, which locates its launch sites inside residences. Iran and Syria are happy for the battle to take place outside their gardens, while the Lebanese and Israelis suffer. Palestinians in private conversations warn against their country becoming the next Jihadist battleground against the West.

Militants continuously undermine concrete Palestinian interests. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had tentatively agreed on the release of Palestinian prisoners as a good faith gesture when they met before a group of Nobel peace laureates. Three days later, Hamas militant wing leader Khaled Mashaal, based out of Damascus and under Iran's patronage, ordered the hijacking of Israeli soldiers that unleashed the Gaza crisis.

Other than loyalists on his payroll, Gazans distrust of Mashaal is growing. They understand that the fate of Palestinian statehood cannot be relinquished to foreign militants with ulterior motives. Being vocal about it is the next necessary step.

Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal Constitution. More information: www.ajc.com.

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