Trump’s Ultimatum to Hamas–What Did it Really Mean?

By: Jack Wisdom

Jonathan Tobin’s latest article about Gaza and Palestinian statehood equivocates about the ability of Trump’s policy to resolve the military and governance problems of Gaza. After analyzing the issues pertaining to Gaza and its relation to the question of statehood for the Arabs living there as well as those on the so-called ‘West Bank’ (Judea and Samaria), he states in the last sentence, “American support was always essential for Palestinian statehood. That is finished. His critics may decry this all they want, but the bitter truth they fail to acknowledge is that their alternatives to Trump’s Gaza idea are even more unrealistic and dangerous than his.”

In this summary statement, he decries those who disagree with Pres.Trump about so-called Palestinian Arab statehood as being “more unrealistic and dangerous than his.” The key word is “more.” Thus, Trump’s ideas are implied as being “unrealistic and dangerous,” but his are only better in the negative sense that those opposed to him are more dangerous. Therefore, his conclusion is that Trump’s ideas are only “better” in a somewhat negative sense.

This conclusion is hardly inspiring, and really fails to answer the question, if Trump’s ideas are better, what makes them better. If I claim my sneakers are better than your sneakers, I might be asked what makes them better. I cannot answer, “They are better because yours are not as good,” because that would beg the question. I would have to have specific answers about the amount and quality of the rubber, the built-in arch, etc. etc.

Mr. Tobin does not define what makes Trump’s view of Gaza and a Palestinian Arab state “better.” He, and so many commentators, seem to focus upon the socio-political dimension of experience, the dynamics in play in so-called realpolitik. Yet, the context of the conflict should more accurately be understood as moral and historical.

You see, dear reader, Hamas is not only a political entity with goals that we don’t like. They are not only repulsive individuals dressed in black spandex masks, black shirts, wearing terrifying hoods, and surrounding single female hostages on every side with menacing machine guns. They are murderous, lying, evil voices of corrupt and degraded character. They are the descendants of thousands of years of degraded enemies of the blessed children of Israel – the Jewish people – those who despised Abraham’s descendants because they were monotheistic, and because his descendants had a unique and superior moral law.

The hatred of the Jews that they manifested on Oct. 7 is also manifested by the building of their labyrinth of tunnels, their continuous arming of themselves, and their torture and murder of men, women, and children since 2006. These denizens of Gaza and of the ‘West Bank’ are outclassed in every way but especially in terms of moral law as well as scientific, artistic, agricultural, technological, and medical achievements. Oh, how they mercilessly long for the day when they can demand in the name of Allah that the Jews pay their Muslim overlords the jizya tax demanded of second-class non-Islamic citizens by the Quran.

“Convert or die” was the cry of the Prophet’s armies as they ferociously demanded allegiance as they crossed North Africa in the seventh century. They long for the hegemony that they once enjoyed, and Israel’s existence is a reminder to them every day of their lives that Western Civilization has replaced Islam as a great power. Israel is an outpost of that replacement smack-dab in the middle of their region-of-darkness.

The reader might think this writer is exaggerating by moving historical resentment to front and center of our understanding of the conflict between Hamas and other terrorist factions among her neighbors.

However, this writer was talking to an Egyptian engineer who was working as a clerk in a local deli as he had not yet been able to get a license to be an engineer in the USA. The subject of the Crusades (first one 1095 AD) came up. His entire facial expression changed. The rage that enveloped his expression was sudden and startling. He began denouncing the West for those events of more than 1000 years ago. Having taught history for many years and seeing that most Americans do not have a strong historical sense or interest, I was surprised to meet someone for whom the past was so alive. But it was more than troubling to see that hatreds motivated this interest.

On another occasion, after work I stopped at a Moroccan store to pick up some food. For some reason, I referred to the march of Islam across North Africa in the seventh century led by cries of “Convert of die!!” As a lecturer in philosophies of ethics, I said that Christianity spread by preaching, not at the point of a sword, at least until the Crusades. The word “peace” thus has a meaning for Christianity that it never had for Islam. He handed me my takeout package, but his eyes were enflamed with hatred and intense anger. The muscles in his face became tense with rage. As I walked with my food away from the counter towards the door, I thought he might actually attack me.

Thus, we can see that Tobin and other wise analysts of Middle East policy can never flush out the real issues if they do not take into account the abiding hatred that many in the Middle East have for Judaism, Christianity, and the decline of Islam during the past 600 years as a significant military and cultural power in the world. This decline has led to an incredible bitterness which Pres. Trump I believe understands. Thus, for him the options he presents to the Middle East Islamic world are that they join together to enjoy the relative peace and prosperity made available through capitalism and democratic processes or they face annihilation and continuous poverty. The Abraham Accords moved in the direction of promoting this option.

Now Trump is talking about a Riviera resort lifestyle where Gaza presently is situated. At the same time, he issued an ultimatum to Hamas to return all the hostages. Whether or not that is what happens this week, that’s the moral choice: identify with the goals of peace and prosperity or face total “hell.” It’s not a matter of weighing pros and cons the way we deal with many gray areas of life. It’s not a matter of “ordering our priorities.” It’s a matter of looking towards peace and prosperity, releasing hostages, giving up one’s murderous philosophy of life, and moving on with hope, or facing hell on earth on Saturday and on days thereafter. The bunker buster bombs recently shipped to Israel are perfect for getting rid of Hamas’ tunnels.

Trump senses that the Arab Islamic world is living in the past — their glory days, so to speak, before they were eclipsed by Western Judeo-Christian civilization. His ultimatum to Hamas at the same time as he is holding out a carrot of prosperity to Gazans and the Arab world with talk about a Gazan “Riviera” reveals an uncanny wisdom and boldness.

          (IsraelNationalNews.com)