https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/04\/01\/opinions\/gaza-hamas-israel-protest-opinion-robertson\/index.html<\/p>\n
Human waves moving forward, slingshots in the hands of some, the tide turning as one fell, crowds parting as
\nrough hands hurriedly carted another victim from the confrontation.
\nBut these are no coincidental casualties — a calculated plan is unfolding.<\/p>\n
to throw down civilian lives to
\nachieve it. For Israelis, there exists a deep-seated fear that
\nPalestinians and Arabs will become emboldened and flood over fences and walls in numbers too great for a
\ncivilized army, even one with America’s moral support, to confront.
\nIn public statements before the confrontation, Israeli ocials
\nsaid an attack on the border fence is an attack on Israel’s
\nsovereignty and pulled no punches on what a response could
\nlook like.
\nTo make their message clear, the Israel Defense Forces’
\nArabic website posted a video of a young man being shot in
\nthe leg; it was accompanied by the caption: “This is what will
\nhappen to you if you try to get close to our border.”
\nThe fact that Israelis see these messages as warnings and
\nPalestinians understand them as threats shows how deeply
\nentrenched divisions are. Nonetheless, Hamas has called its
\nsupporters forward to demonstrate a right of return, fully
\naware of the situation they are creating in doing so.
\nIt is hard to ignore the calculation on Hamas’s part that some
\nof their protesters would get killed; even harder as they acknowledged to CNN that a good many would be their
\nvaluable fighters. And indeed, Friday saw at least 17 Palestinian deaths.
\nIn New York, UN Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres called for an independent investigation into the clashes while
\nSecurity Council members have condemned the killing of Palestinian citizens. A statement was blocked by the US,
\naccording to two UN diplomats who talked to CNN.
\nMeanwhile the European Union has called for a transparent investigation.
\nThis rush to international judgment brings back memories of
\nan interview I had with Hamas’s political leader, Khaled
\nMeshaal, during the 2014 Gaza war.
\nAs the Palestinian death toll climbed, there was a growing
\nperception among many international observers that Meshaal
\nand his cohorts were willing to see Palestinians killed if it led
\nto more calls for Israel to end its bombing campaign.
\nWhen I met Meshaal in 2014, he denied he was sacrificing
\nGazans for his own objectives. At that time, more than 2,000 Palestinians, according to UN estimates, had been killed
\nunder Israeli bombardment following an escalation of tensions
\nas Hamas fired rockets toward Israeli civilians.
\nHe told me that Hamas does not seek international sympathy
\nthrough its own victims. Today, that notion is increasingly questioned amid criticism that the group is once again
\nsacrificing civilians for political gain.
\nNow Hamas’s leaders indicate another agenda in their protest — not just the right of return.
\nOn Friday, Hamas’s spokesman said the confrontation was also a message to the US President over his recognition
\nof Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, calling it “a strong blow to Trump and his administration.”
\nSince that announcement in December last year, Palestinian negotiators have refused to meet Trump’s peace
\nenvoys, most notably shunning a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to the region in January.
\nEven if Hamas didn’t have the intent, it certainly will have the opportunity to turn the Gaza protest into a timely
\noutcry over Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In doing so, it would stand to score political
\npoints against its rivals in Fatah, the Palestinian nationalist party.
\nHamas may also be achieving another aim: isolating the US
\nand Israel from European support, as indeed early indications
\nfrom the UN and the European Union show is happening.
\nAlready, the middle of May is set to be a trying time for Trump
\nin the region and in his relations with Europe’s leading
\nnations. Just days before the embassy is expected to open in
\nJerusalem, he must decide whether to sign a new sanctions
\nwaiver on Iran, something Europeans support and his new
\nnational security adviser and potential incoming Secretary of State are likely to oppose.
\nHamas will likely have an interest in this too, as it has recently been rearming
\nold ties with Iran and will see these
\nsanctions as yet another means to isolate Trump from European support — adding more incentive for
\nconfrontational protests in Gaza.
\nWhat’s happening now in the undulating grass fields abutting the fence at Gaza’s border will in the coming weeks
\nlikely be a growing overseas concern for Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/04\/01\/opinions\/gaza-hamas-israel-protest-opinion-robertson\/index.html Human waves moving forward, slingshots in the hands of some, the tide turning as one fell, crowds parting as rough hands hurriedly carted another victim from the confrontation. But these are no coincidental casualties — a calculated plan is unfolding. to throw down civilian lives to achieve it. For Israelis, there exists a deep-seated fear that Palestinians and Arabs… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1553,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}