Hamas is Killing Its Own People

By Elias Bejjani, January 06, 2009

Elias Bejjani, human rights activist, journalist and political commentator, is spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF) and Media Chairman for the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC).

The genuine sympathy for, and empathy with, the massive civilian casualties, disastrous human sufferings and extensive material loses sadly taking place in Gaza should not by any means blind the free world and human rights advocacy organizations to the prime causes of the current bloody Israeli-Palestinian confrontation.

What has been going on in Gaza for the last two weeks was instigated by the Axis of Evil countries Syria and Iran, through their terrorist groups Hamas and Hizbullah. Gaza City, the impoverished Palestinian city, has been turned into a theater for a bloody tragedy.

Syria and Iran totally control Hamas leadership, finance it directly and train its fighters.

This tragedy is a scheme planned and orchestrated directly by Syria and Iran. The tool in its implementation is fundamentalist Hamas. The Palestinian people in Gaza are mere hostages. They are denied any say in this tragedy. The Axis of Evil countries and organizations are disregarding the security, destiny and livelihood of the people of Gaza.

The entire world knows that Syria and Iran totally control Hamas leadership, finance it directly and train its fighters, as well as supplying it with weapons and equipment. And, according to all standards, the people of Gaza today are hostages in Hamas hands, which trades in their blood mercilessly under the false slogans of "resistance" and "liberation". The Hamas conspiracy against its own people has been overt in all its provocative practices.

In reality, Hamas is mimicking Hizbullah, which back in July 2006 murdered Lebanese civilians and destroyed their infrastructure when it instigated, perpetrated and started its futile and destructive war with Israel, in order to serve the interests, plans and conspiracies of Teheran and Damascus. Then, they claimed the defeat of the Israeli army, calling it a "divine victory".

This is precisely what Hamas has been doing and continues to do. It kept on provoking Israel by firing rockets and missiles on Israeli civilians and refusing to renew a truce with the Jewish State that had been in effect for six months. It gave Israel all the justifications for waging its destructive and devastating on-going war against Gaza. Hamas has so far caused the death and injury of more than 4,000 people and the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian targets in Gaza.

Hamas and Hizbullah's practices and slogans are directly ordered by Teheran and Damascus. They are nothing but military instruments in the hands of Iran and Syria to achieve the expansionist goals of these two countries. It is crystal clear that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and all other moderate Arab countries are also main targets of the Axis of Evil countries and their terrorist tools.

Pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian demonstrators in Beirut revealed this plot when they attempted to sack the Egyptian embassy. At the same time, and within the context of the same evil strategy, Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's General Secretary, openly and boldly called on the Egyptian people to demonstrate by the millions and open the Gaza-Egyptian crossings with their bare hands. Nasrallah and other Hizbullah leaders also called for the Egyptian army officers and soldiers to pressure the Egyptian government into helping Hamas. They lashed out at all Arab states and accused them of conspiracy against the Palestinian people, and of being in bed with the Israelis and the Americans.

Why don't they rush to the aid of Hamas?

The loud Iranian-Syrian anti-Israel rhetoric - theatrical threats to militarily destroy the Jewish state and send its people back to their countries of origin, as Iran's President Ahmadinejad keeps saying - has proved during the last two weeks to be void of any seriousness or actual military capabilities to back up the threats. The obvious questions are: Where are Iran's missiles, navies and bombs? Why have Iran and Syria refrained from coming to the rescue of their tool, Hamas? Where is the Syrian army, which has destroyed Lebanon and massacred our people? Where is Hizbullah's bravery and threats? Why don't they rush to the aid of Hamas?

The answer remains as it was since the establishment of the State of Israel: the threats are mere demagogic, empty speeches motivated by hatred, fundamentalism, lies and a poisonous rejection of the Other. The leaders of Iran and Syria, like many others in the Middle East, have become addicted to insulting the intelligence of their people. They say one thing and do just the opposite. Their claims of illusionary triumphs and divine victories have led their peoples into disasters, poverty, ignorance and fundamentalism.

We may have believed the sincerity and nationalism of those Lebanese politicians who made speeches, issued statements and organized demonstrations in Beirut had they refused to be the stooges and propaganda drums of Iran and Syria. They have instead screamed against Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations, burned Israeli and American flags, and attempted to ransack the Egyptian embassy.

It would have been more productive and honorable for them to be witnesses for the truth and demand that Iran and Syria, along with their terrorist instruments Hamas and Hizbullah, have mercy on the Lebanese and Palestinian people. To release them from bondage. To stop using them as hostages. To halt the murder of their young.

To quit using Lebanon and Gaza as theaters of action for the wars of others.

It is sad and distressing that some political and religious leaders in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries delivered speeches contrary to their convictions. When they cheered Hamas and blessed its actions, they simply practiced dhimmitude and committed a sinful crime. They surely know the destructive, terrorist and criminal roles of Hamas and Hizbullah, since they call for their disarmament and elimination in private. These leaders must honestly declare their stance, break out of the web of fear and clearly state matters as they are. The only long-lasting solution for the Lebanese-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a peace treaty through direct negotiations, as already signed by Egypt and Jordan.

Lebanon, Gaza and the whole Middle East will not know peace and security until the destructive Iranian-Syrian role is ended, and the terrorist organizations of Hamas and Hizbullah are disarmed and their military teeth extracted.

This tragedy is orchestrated by Syria and Iran.