Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib refused to apologize Wednesday for saying on Tuesday that Israel is to blame for the hospital explosion that day in Gaza, an accusation that sparked political backlash against her from Republicans as Israel denies fault.
Tlaib joined thousands of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during a solidarity rally hosted by the left-leaning group Jewish Voice for Peace at the National Mall. She was visibly emotional, at times pausing her speech to openly weep and criticizing lawmakers who have not backed a ceasefire resolution.
Israel has negotiated with Hamas before.
Hamas had virtually free reign in Gaza for the past 17 years, despite violently pushing out Fatah and never holding elections again.
That didn’t stop Hamas from murdering 1,400 civilians in Israel.
What results should Israel expect if they negotiated with Hamas this time?
Hamas won the 2006 election, and Fatah and the rest of the world opposed them taking office. Hamas and Fatah fought it out, and Hamas won in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank.
You’re right that Hamas hasn’t allowed elections since then, but simply saying, 'violently pushing out Fatah ’ is much less than accurate.
It should also be noted that Hamas won that election because Fatah’s strategy of negotiations was seen as a dead end and Israel is responsible for that. And of course, there might not even BE a Hamas if Israel hadn’t funded Hamas as a divide and conquer strategy against the Palestinian secular nationalist movement .
And then went back on the results of those negotiations. Two ceasefires were signed before, and in both the blockade being lifted was a condition that Israel didn’t fulfill no matter how long Hamas waited.
Also you’re being very disingenuous by ignoring the blockade. You can’t call the situation in Gaza “free reign”.
It’s not like the ceasefires were unilaterally observed by Hamas, and only broken by Israel.
I’m not even trying to defend Israel here. My entire point is that there is absolutely no reason to put your entire trust into a terrorist organization that just murdered 1,400 civilians.
At first that was the case. Hamas only broke the ceasefires when it became apparent that the most important part to them, lifting the blockade, wouldn’t happen.
We can both condemn the murder of civilians (by both sides) and condemn Israel for not trying to make peace. This isn’t trust; this is working off their official position and past examples. Them being a terrorist organization has nothing to do with that.