Does this mean that the population of Gaza supports the destruction of Israel? The answer to that is NO. Hamas dropped its call for the destruction of Israel from its manifesto in 2006, shortly before it got elected. But Hamas also stated in the manifesto that “our nation is at a stage of national liberation, and it has the right to act to regain its rights and end the occupation by using all means, including armed resistance.” By continuing the brutal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, Israel has given Hamas a politically valid excuse to launch rockets at Israel and continue the armed offensive. 

(Yes, Israel is still considered to be occupying the Gaza Strip. Even the Israeli Government has had to acknowledge this.)

Israel can’t bomb its way to peace and the ball is not in Hamas’ court. Even if one was to believe that Hamas is secretly bent on destroying Israel, the fact remains that unless Israel stops occupying Palestinian land, Hamas’ current public manifesto will remain legitimate and Palestinians will keep supporting it. Why shouldn’t they support it?

Israel has continued to build Jewish-only settlements and outposts on occupied territory, demolished 10,756 palestinian homes, killed more than 4,876 Palestinians (including 1,050 children) and held their iron-grip over Gaza’s borders, coastline and airspace. Israel also continues to hold and routinely torture over 8,000 Palestinian political prisoners in its jails.

A blue-print for peace has to be two-fold. The rocket attacks terrorize Israeli civilians just as Israeli Defense Forces terrorize Palestinian civilians on a daily basis. The statistics in the last paragraph stand as proof of this.

Israel could have ended the rocket attacks by ending the occupation and releasing the prisoners. In order to get elected Hamas had to change their mission statement from “destruction of Israel” to “resisting the occupation”. When no occupation exists, Hamas will be rendered irrelevant. They will either have to reform or face political failure.

However, Israel has chosen to go with a military offensive which is doomed to fail in the long run. By killing their friends and relatives, Israel will only wreck the emotional balance of Palestinians (who’re already living under extreme conditions) and thus breed a new generation of Hamas.

“Holy war” is only a pseudo-definition of “Jihad” which has been propagated by terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, this definition of the word “Jihad” has been heavily subscribed to by western media and critics of Islam. Many who use the word frequently don’t even know its true meaning in the Arabic language.

If you happen to be one of these people, you are unconsciously helping terrorist organizations in their attempt to distort the true meaning of the word. As I’ve stated earlier, the Qur’an mentions the word “Jihad” and instructs Muslims to do “Jihad”, or struggle in their day to day lives for a good cause. Al-Qaeda is trying its very best to convince moderate muslims (i.e. a majority of muslims) to see the word “Jihad” like it sees it. “Jihad” does not mean “holy war”, but by using it in that context, you are making it easier for these terrorists to distort the message of the Qur’an.

So, regardless of whether you are a Muslim, remember that by using the word “Jihad” to mean “holy war”, you are promoting this negative, pseudo-definition of a word that is holy to many Muslims. If you really wish to see an end to terrorism in the world, please refrain from doing this.

Before I proceed, I would like to point out that even an internal Israeli Government Assessment, obtained by the AFP News Agency in 2004 confirmed that Israel was still occupying Gaza following the disengagement.

Under the Israeli Knesset’s Gaza Disengagement Plan, Israeli forces have kept control over Gaza’s borders, coastline and airspace, and reserve the right to launch incursions at will. Israel also continues to wield overwhelming power over the territory’s economy and its access to trade.

Article 42 of  the Hague convention (on regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land) states:

Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.

While some might argue that Gaza is no longer under authority of Israeli Defense Forces, the reality is that, under International Law, Israeli Defense Forces continue to have authority over Gaza through its control of borders, coastline and airspace. Shortly after the disengagement plan was passed by the Knesset in 2004, Human Rights Watch also echoed this belief:

Under international law, the test for determining whether an occupation exists is effective control by a hostile army, not the positioning of troops. Whether the Israeli army is inside Gaza or redeployed around its periphery and restricting entrance and exit, it remains in control. 

Therefore, although the disengagement plan concludes that disengagement “will serve to dispel the claims regarding Israel’s responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”, Israel still occupies the Gaza strip and International law holds it responsible for the welfare of the people of Gaza. Even the Israeli’s have acknowledged that. Therefore I see no excuse for this idiotic argument being brought up again and again.