Radical Hamas attempts to derail peace process
By Adam Symson
The recent events in Israel and the Middle East have brought to
me mixed emotions. On the one hand, there was the historic and
amazing peace agreement signed between Jordan and Israel that will
bring closer the reality of peace in the Middle East between Israel
and her neighbors. Unfortunately, on the other hand, the recent
advances made in the Middle East have been seriously overshadowed
by the recent devastating acts of terrorism openly committed by
Hamas, the Palestinian radical faction that seems to be working its
hardest to completely derail the entire peace process.
Within the past two weeks, three vicious attacks on the people
of Israel have deeply affected Jews around the world. The first
attack came from armed snipers as they successfully attacked and
killed innocent people as they were shopping in one of Jerusalem’s
most popular tourist and shopping districts.
The second, and most organized, attack on Israel occurred when
Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier who was an American citizen. The
captors held him in return for the release of 200 Arab prisoners
held in Israeli jails. On Oct. 14, Cpl. Nahshon Waxman was killed
by Hamas’ military wing minutes before he was to be rescued by
Israeli commandoes.
The latest and most deadly of the militant Palestinian
organization’s attacks took place Wednesday morning in Tel Aviv,
when a bomb exploded on a crowded bus, killing 22 innocent Israeli
citizens. Hamas, again, was quick to claim responsibility with
pride for their bloody and ruthless achievement.
The Hamas attacks affect Jewish American students like myself on
two levels. First and foremost, we are deeply angered by the deadly
attacks on innocent Israelis. I mourn the loss of these people, but
my mourning is suppressed by anger, shock and dismay. The second
way in which these attacks affect me is in my own uncertainty with
the entire Palestinian and Israeli peace process.
These attacks are clear attempts to derail any peace in the
region. The Israeli government is clearly hesitant to continue
negotiations with Arafat and the other leaders in the Arab world.
These most recent attacks make me wonder whether any real peace
like this is something Israel should even buy into.
Last year, after the massacre at Hebron, in which one solitary
deranged Israeli individual killed more than a dozen people in a
crowded mosque, UCLA’s organizations rallied together to "Protest
the Massacre," and further "Protest the Occupation" in Israel.
Today, I ask the students on this campus to again protest these
massacres, which have been perpetrated by an efficiently organized
group of militants seeking specifically to kill as many Jewish
Israelis as possible.
While last year’s massacre at Hebron was indeed worthy of
protest, it is time for the world to come forward and speak out
against the organized terrorism by Hamas in Israel. We must PROTEST
HAMAS and their deadly attacks.
Symson is a third-year communication studies student.