The Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip has sparked a predictable wave of protest throughout the Muslim world. (Somebody please call us the day a similar protest is held against al Qaeda's mass murder of Muslims in Iraq or Pakistan.) But theirs aren't the only voices making themselves heard on the subject of Gaza.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this week that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had told a visiting delegation of European foreign ministers that Hamas "must not be allowed to emerge from the fighting with the upper hand." The comment was later relayed by the Europeans to Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
We called the Egyptian embassy in Washington to confirm Mr. Mubarak's comments and never heard back. But the remark squares with the way Egypt has acted toward Hamas since the war began. It has sealed its border with the Strip to prevent an exodus of Gazans and barred all but a trickle of humanitarian aid to enter. Little wonder that Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah has called on Egyptian army officers to topple Mr. Mubarak's regime.
Mr. Mubarak has good reason to want to see Hamas humbled: As the Palestinian franchise of his own suppressed Muslim Brotherhood, it poses a direct threat to his rule. The same goes for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Sunni regimes like Saudi Arabia, which see Hamas as another Iranian proxy in the Sunni heartland. Their views, too, are being expressed sotto voce.
More impressively, an Iranian student group is pointing the finger at its own government. "Those who have armed and encouraged groups like Hamas . . . have innocent blood on their hands," read a communiqué published December 30 in an Iranian newspaper and translated by the invaluable Middle East Media Research Institute. "Israel's current crimes in Gaza are strongly to be condemned -- but it is equally [important] to condemn the terror organizations that use kindergartens and hospitals as a shield against [Israeli] attacks."
The Iranian government shut down the newspaper that published these remarks the next day. We can only hope for the safety of the authors. They have shown a great deal more clarity, and courage, than the protestors on the other side.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this week that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had told a visiting delegation of European foreign ministers that Hamas "must not be allowed to emerge from the fighting with the upper hand." The comment was later relayed by the Europeans to Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
We called the Egyptian embassy in Washington to confirm Mr. Mubarak's comments and never heard back. But the remark squares with the way Egypt has acted toward Hamas since the war began. It has sealed its border with the Strip to prevent an exodus of Gazans and barred all but a trickle of humanitarian aid to enter. Little wonder that Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah has called on Egyptian army officers to topple Mr. Mubarak's regime.
Mr. Mubarak has good reason to want to see Hamas humbled: As the Palestinian franchise of his own suppressed Muslim Brotherhood, it poses a direct threat to his rule. The same goes for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Sunni regimes like Saudi Arabia, which see Hamas as another Iranian proxy in the Sunni heartland. Their views, too, are being expressed sotto voce.
More impressively, an Iranian student group is pointing the finger at its own government. "Those who have armed and encouraged groups like Hamas . . . have innocent blood on their hands," read a communiqué published December 30 in an Iranian newspaper and translated by the invaluable Middle East Media Research Institute. "Israel's current crimes in Gaza are strongly to be condemned -- but it is equally [important] to condemn the terror organizations that use kindergartens and hospitals as a shield against [Israeli] attacks."
The Iranian government shut down the newspaper that published these remarks the next day. We can only hope for the safety of the authors. They have shown a great deal more clarity, and courage, than the protestors on the other side.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123154855613269959.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
Source: WSJ
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