Daniel J. Pipes

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Common sense is so rare...

Reader comment on item: That Surreal Gaza Reconstruction Conference

Submitted by CanadianChris (Canada), Mar 4, 2009 at 12:56

We are living in a world that allows for divisive manipulation of facts. I cannot say that any major power is insulated or innocent of this. The clarity required in these times is lacking due to the complexity of issues, and most people, especially in poorer regions of the world, simply do not have the time or resources to achieve an unbiased conclusion based on objective facts. So what we have are leaders who use specific instances, which are not truly representative of the objective facts, in order to gain support for actions against perceived enemies. It is an effective tool to create cohesiveness among populations by demonizing specific groups.

In these times, Israel needs to keep reminding the world of the simplicity and clarity of their obligation. To protect their population from terror attacks. The responses will be unbalanced to be sure, but I think that the Hamas see themselves as victims, when in reality, they are the ones responsible for the victimization of the people they claim to support. We cannot assume that because a person is Palestinian, that they support Hamas in anything but action. The hearts of many are filled with fear of the consequences of opposing Hamas.

In an unstable region, organizations like Hamas, act as a sort of Mafia, in place of an actual fair and balanced government. The non-supporters, are punished or eliminated and discriminated against at the very least. We will have difficulty hearing the few actual voices of innocent Palestinians in Gaza due to the methods of coercion used by the antagonising Hamas.


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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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