By J.M. Phelps (One News Now)
Despite bloody attacks by Hamas on the people of Israel being celebrated, a former Israeli intel officer wishes the best for the people of the Gaza Strip.
On August 29, the Israeli non-profit Palestinian Media Watch shared a video from a Hamas-run television channel, Al-Aqsa TV. That channel often airs news and propaganda from the Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization, Hamas. In this case, the “Palwatch video” – a fake re-enactment – celebrates one of the most malevolent acts of terrorism.
The video depicts a number of imprisoned Hamas terrorists inside an Israeli jail cell, watching a breaking news story on television about a suicide bombing attack. With subtitles in English, terrorists in prison uniforms speak in Arabic:
Israeli TV news: “There are 19 killed and dozens wounded in the worst suicide bombing.”
Prisoner Hassan: “An operation (i.e., terror attack)? In Tel Aviv?”
Other Prisoners: “Allahu Akbar! (i.e., “Allah is the greatest!”)
The scene quickly shifts focus to a prisoner named Rafat, sitting on the edge of his bed, crying:
Hassan:“Rafat? Why are you crying?”
Prisoner Rafat: “This is the guy I told you about (i.e., the suicide bomber). I wanted to carry out the operation with him.”
Hassan: “Be strong, and Allah willing, your being here [in prison] is no less than [what he did]. Allah willing, you are destined for reward.”
Rafat: “Allah willing.”
OneNewsNow spoke to Miri Eisin about the content of that video as well as Hamas. According to the former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence officer, the video dates back to the second intifada, the years between 2000 and 2004, and was re-aired on the Hamas television channel.
While the Palwatch video is a fake re-enactment, the circumstances of video are not easily forgotten by the Israeli people. In the 1990s, Eisin says, Hamas began suicide bombing missions against the Jewish nation. “[The attacks began] at the height of negotiations and agreements between the state of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization leadership,” she recalls.
“Hamas terrorists blew up on buses in Tel Aviv, Netanya, Jerusalem … literally from the north to the south of Israel,” she points out. “Over the last three decades, suicide bombings have killed hundreds of civilians – from babies through the elderly – on buses, in restaurants, at shopping malls, and beyond.”
Disturbingly, she states, Hamas leadership and the terrorists themselves have justified killing any Israeli – Jew or supporter of Jews – as potential soldiers operating on behalf of Israel.
As for the re-airing of the video celebrating the deaths of Israelis, Eisin adds: “[It is] most likely an attempt to avert people’s anger from the failure of the Hamas leadership and government in the Gaza Strip to govern the Gaza Strip.”
Suicide bombings – the ‘glory of the past’
According to Eisin, Hamas – established in the 1980s – is an acronym for “Muslim Resistance Party.” The former IDF intel officer explains that the desire of Hamas – as with all Palestinian terror factions at that time – was to destroy Israel. The establishment of a Muslim Palestinian state, as part of the Muslim Brotherhood worldwide, was also part of the plan, she adds.
“When the main Palestinian secular factions began to negotiate and seem to recognize Israel’s existence, [accepting] the idea of a compromise of two states, Hamas opposed the Palestinian parties and factions that were willing to accept Israel,” Eisin explains.
Essentially, she says, Hamas refuses to accept that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish nation state. “They oppose the basic idea of self-determination for Jews and oppose any connection of Jews to the historic land of Israel,” she further explains.
Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority government in 2007 by a violent coup, during which hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were killed. “[They] use their authority to enforce their code of violence, but refuse to accept responsibility to govern the area,” she tells OneNewsNow.
Eisin adds that if one follows social media coming out of the Gaza Strip, they will discover there is “immense anger against the Hamas leadership and their activists, who do not assist their own people but use international assistance to buy rockets and fire them at Israel.”
Hamas hopes to use a unifying hatred against Israel so the people of the Gaza Strip will not oppose them as rulers, she contends. “Reminding the younger generation of suicide bombings is to show – in their terms – the glory of the past,” she suggests.
The terrorist group, she continues, “wants to kill Israelis – anywhere, anytime” … which requires Israelis to “rely on excellent security agencies to preempt and stop these kinds of attacks, as they have done successfully for over a decade.”
Interestingly, while stirring such deep levels of hatred toward Israel, Eisin says Hamas also reinforces the Israeli policy of isolating the Gaza Strip. “[As a result], Hamas themselves – through their harsh actions – bring upon the people of the Gaza Strip their economic hardships.”
The people of the Gaza Strip, she concludes, deserve a different leadership that will bring them “stability, jobs, education and a future – rather than Hamas suicide bombings.”
J.M. Phelps is a counter-terrorism specialist, suicide bombing expert, and freelance journalist, focusing on national security for OneNewsNow. He is also editor and publisher of the website Lantern of Liberty.
Originally published by One News Now on Friday, September 25, 2020.
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