thanks for this. It's really good journalism (though mostly from the Israeli point of view). I don't think Israel literally created Hamas. If it hadn't helped Hamas, some similar organization would likely have risen anyway. With the US and Israel aiming their ire at the secular types in the Arab world (and the USSR helping to discred secularism in Afghanistan), some sort of fundy Islam would have risen in response....
On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 6:51 PM, Marv Gandall <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 2012-11-15, at 10:59 PM, Jim Devine wrote: > >> Is it true that Israel built up Hamas -- and even helped to create it >> -- as a way of undermining Arafat's PLO? > > (They didn't create it or build it up, but they saw it as a religious and > charitable organization which they hoped would drain support from the PLO, > then leading the armed struggle. So they tolerated and in some instances > facilitated Hamas' growth until it too took up the gun and suicide bombing. > Here's a long but informative piece from the WSJ following the Israeli > assault on Gaza in 2009.) > > How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas > By ANDREW HIGGINS > Wall Street Journal > January 24, 2009 > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
