President Jimmy Carter: "How To Fix It": Ending this war in Gaza begins with recognizing Hamas

[badtoworse]

70. Hamas has never recognized Israel's right to exist and has always been committed to its destruction.

By definition, that made them and still makes them Israel's enemy. The fact that, to date, they haven't been very effective at it doesn't change anything and Israel would be foolish to allow them to get stronger. Their tactics, practiced from the beginning, have earned them the title of terrorist organization. I haven't seen any evidence that they're willing to change those things, and given that, I fail to see where they deserve any legitimacy at all.

In my book, only a moron would put faith in an agreement with a party that remains committed to your destruction. Before I would recognize Hamas and negotiate with them, I'd need to hear them say something like "We recognize Israel as a legitimate state and we're willing to peacefully coexist with you". That is not a concession, it's a fundamental requirement for a meaningful discussion of issues to even start. If Hamas is not willing to do that, Israel (and the US) would be stupid to give them any legitimacy and beyond that, Hamas should not be surprised when the other side becomes committed to their destruction. Sorry, but the ball is in their court.

As far as the Muslim Brotherhood and similar organizations go, I can't disagree with you more strongly. They did not spring up because of our actions. These groups are religious fundamentalists committed to replacing Western values with Sharia Law and had they remained in power in Egypt, it would have become another Iran within a year or two. Sorry, but I don't want to live in an Islamic Fundamentalist state and I don't believe people in other countries should be forced to either. You might find it hard to accept, but fundamentalists aren't very tolerant of views other than their own and will likely kill you if you don't live by their standards. Confering any legitimacy on them would be a huge mistake.