The kiss that was seen around the world

By Cal Thomas

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the photograph of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat kissing a leader of the Hamas resistance movement speaks volumes about the futility of so-called Middle East "peace efforts" pursued by the United States.

At a meeting of several Palestinian factions in Gaza, Arafat applauded leaders of Hamas and Islamic Holy War, defied American demands that he crack down on terrorism and said Palestinians are prepared to resume their violent uprising against Israel.

The U.S. government seems ignorant of religiously motivated people because it thinks from a secular mind-set. The State Department acts as if militant Islamic fundamentalists can be persuaded to make peace with people they believe are the enemy of God.

Have our government leaders not heard what these people write and say? While the PLO Charter is a political document that can be amended (though it hasn't been with respect to the existence of Israel), the Hamas Charter is a distinctly religious document, based on the Koran, which cannot be changed.

Stated in the Hamas Preamble, the organization's objective is clear: "Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors." Nothing ambiguous about that.

For those who believe Hamas is an extreme organization, Article Seven says, "Hamas is one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the Zionist invasion." Later, the charter speaks of killing Jews and "discarding the evil, crushing it and defeating it, so that truth may prevail and homelands revert (to their owners)."

As to those who believe negotiations, compromise and "land for peace" remain the best hope for the Middle East, Article Eleven says, "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it. No Arab country nor the aggregate of all Arab countries, and no Arab King or President nor all of them in the aggregate, have the right, nor has that right any organization or the aggregate of all organizations, be they Palestinian or Arab."

It gets better (or worse if you're an Israeli). The charter states a belief in marriage between church and state and regards nationalism as part and parcel of the religious faith.

The charter regards "peace initiatives" by the West as the work of infidels: "(Peace) initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of this faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad."

The peace conferences "are no more than a means to appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since when did Unbelievers do justice to Believers?"

For those who still cling to the "peace process," there is this in Article Thirteen: "There is no solution to the Palestinian problems except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility."

The charter calls the Jews "Nazis," which is ironic since many Arab nations supported the Nazis and their attempt to exterminate Jews during World War II.

In case there is doubt about the relationship between Hamas and the PLO, Article Twenty-Seven says, "The PLO is among the closest to the Hamas, for it constitutes a father, a brother, a relative, a friend."

The kiss seen around the world between Arafat and the Hamas leader is proof that these two organizations are not merely "dating" but are married — with the goal of destroying and completely occupying all of Israel, killing Jews in the process as a favor to Allah. To proceed as if Hamas' beliefs, actions and objectives do not matter is the ultimate in denial and puts not only U.S. interests at risk but also the survival of Israel and the Jewish people.

Los Angeles Times Syndicate