Mandatory Reading: Feckless West Can’t Keep Falling for Hamas Propaganda

Alexander Downer, former Australian foreign minister and High Commissioner to the UK, has written a must-read piece on how the West is falling for Hamas propaganda.

Excerpt:

So that brings us to the Hamas protest against the US Embassy on the Israeli/Gaza border. Hamas’ strategy is to build international opposition to a Jewish state. Since they don’t care about human life, any tactics will do.They sent their fighters – as well as women and even some children – to try to breach the Israeli border and attack Israelis within Israel. The Israelis tried to stop them breaching the border with tear gas and even leaflets. But they kept coming trying to breach the border. The Israeli army fired at the invaders feet but even that didn’t work. In the end they did shoot dead some of the attackers.

That may have been tragic. But 80 per cent of the victims were Hamas fighters, not Sunday afternoon protesters. For Hamas it was a triumph. They got what they wanted. Martyrs, as they like to call the victims, helped them win a media propaganda war worldwide. They saw it as a price worth paying. Even thrusting children and babies into a conflict zone is okay by them.

How feckless are so many governments to be taken in by these cruel tactics. And where, ultimately, will this lead? Will the Jewish people, mercilessly persecuted for centuries, give up their own state? Will those great people who have given so much to science and scholarship give in and let cruel extremists like Hamas define their future? I think not.

Read the entire thing, which also includes an explanation as to why previous peace negotiations have failed.