"Hamas is in its essence, not a political party, but a terrorist organization. It didn’t, as some claim, “stupidly” go too far with ISIS tactics. Calling it ISIS misses the point: Hamas is the original, nihilistic, bloodthirsty organization with unachievable, messianic goals, which – as those of us who lived through the 90s and 00s, when 900 Israeli civilians were killed – has always intentionally targeted innocents. The raison d’etre of its operational wing is to develop plans and capabilities and when ready, implement them. University of Vermont’s Peter Henne wrote this week, of the concept of a “cosmic war”: “Hamas has always defined its struggle in religious terms, taking a maximalist stance towards Israel. There may be a strategy behind specific operations, but in general its reliance on severe violence seems to indicate an attachment to violence as a sacred duty. Attacks like the one Israel is currently dealing with are expressive rather than instrumental”. What Hamas did had no chance of liberating Jerusalem, of defending Al-Aqsa, or of destroying the Jewish state."
*The opinions expressed in MDC publications are the authors’ alone.