Hamas and Iran

In this morning’s Jerusalem Post is this story and its lead:

Mofaz: Hamas consulting with Iran how to lead PA

Hamas has asked for guidance, instructions and financial assistance from Iran as it prepares to take over the Palestinian Authority, [Israeli] Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the European Union’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Friday.

Now we really shouldn’t be surprised by this — Iran has a long history of assisting Hamas. But I am dismayed by it nonetheless. It looks like the first moves toward making Palestine a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iran. An Iranian colony, so to speak. Or even an Iranian “state”.

Iran, the country who has repeatedly vowed to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Yup, that ought to help the peace process along all right…

If you’re not familiar with the Hamas/Iran connection, I’ve collected some reading material for you. I particularly recommend this paper [web] [pdf] by Matthew Levitt (a former FBI counterterrorism intelligence analyst). A sample:

According to press reports, moderate Palestinian parents find it increasingly difficult to shelter their children from Hamas recruiters seeking to breed future suicide bombers. One mother recounted how her son’s behavior changed when he started going to the mosque regularly:

At first I thought it was normal when my son Muhammad, who is eighteen, started going to the mosque frequently. But when I found out he was watching films about suicide attacks, I was worried … My son was going to the mosque late at night and early in the morning, adding to our fears … His behavior changed. He became introverted, which made his father and me search his room and spy on his comings and goings … We even locked the door to stop him going out … We later found out that those in charge of the mosque are members of Hamas, which teaches children about jihad and shows them documentaries about suicide bombings.

The father of fifteen-year-old Hamas recruit Musa Ziadah told a similar tale. Originally pleased with his son’s growing faith, the father did not realize Hamas had begun radicalizing his son when the boy was just ten years old and sweeping the mosque floors. Musa would later tell reporters that Hamas “taught me about the heroes of Islam who were killed as saints and how they are now in heaven beside God … I also learned that the Jews have no right to exist on this land, which belongs to Muslims.”

This paper is very well researched and cites numerous other papers publications (many with links). In addition, these two web sites (here and here) have lots of additional and useful background on Hamas and their relationship with Iran.

I worry that with Hamas now in power, and with the new-found aggressiveness that Iran is displaying, we’re going to see even more outrageous terrorist actions by Hamas against Israel — better funded, and using more sophisticated armaments openly imported from Iran. The only effective counter (at least, at the moment) is the Israeli military. Certainly none of the Middle East “peace efforts” have brought any relief from the terrorists; in fact, the continuous concessions wrung from the Israelis looks to Hamas (and Iran) like their enemy is weakening and is now more vulnerable than ever. In other words, the peace initiatives were actually counter-productive (just like the appeasement of Hitler before WWII) — not that anybody will learn from that, I’m sure.

Unsettling news for this otherwise fine Friday morning…