LEON REICH

In order to address the Israeli – Arab problem, one must have the courage to start with the underlying problem and to face the truth, no matter how painful it may be.

There are two underlying truths that lie at the heart of the problem and they are that to be a good Moslem, one must strive for the fulfillment of the Essence of Islam. That is the belief that Islam was born with the idea that the whole world should be subdued under Islamic rule and that any territory that was ever under Islamic rule, no matter how long ago, belongs to Islam forever. If anyone does not want to live under the Moslem rule then the Moslems must fight them. This is called Jihad.

Just as in every other religion, there are people who do, and those who do not, strive for perfection in following all religious laws. So too the Moslems have such diversity in their ranks. In the modern jargon, those who strive to compel everyone to comply with their viewpoint are the extremists.

This is why there is conflict all over the world initiated by these idealistic extremists who are attacking and murdering people who refuse to accept Moslem rule. Since the Israeli territory falls into the area of the extinct Ottoman Empire which was Moslem, the extremists have devoted their lives to fulfill this rule of Islam.

Any attempt to divert one’s thinking elsewhere is merely a red herring.

There are only eternal interests

The second truth is that it is a principal of international diplomacy: “There are no eternal friends or eternal enemies, only eternal interests”. The key to the problem is to make the price so high for the extremists, that it is within their interest to adopt realism in preference to idealism. This has been the case with both Egypt and the Kingdom of Jordan. It was within their interest to set aside their religious extremism as they did when they signed a peace with Israel. The situation is not always ideal, but there is no more killing.

Now, regarding Operation Protective Edge, the building of the tunnels and the strategy of their attack on Israel was expertly developed by Hamas. Their history of repetitive failures led them to this decision.  The plan was to resort to propaganda as a weapon in order to create international hatred leading to global support, being influenced by the success of the ANC against the Nationalist apartheid government. 

The terminology “Israel apartheid state” and “occupation” created hatred and engendered passion in the populous. It mattered not whether the accusation was true or not, as long as that passion could create animosity. This hatred then became justification for mass murder which was their ultimate aim. During the Spanish Inquisition, the Inquisitors called the Jews Marranos, or pigs, and the Nazis called them monkeys.

Once one was an animal and not human, it was acceptable to kill them. Hamas adopted the same modus operandi by branding Jews as animals in their propaganda.

The second leg of the strategy was to create a reason which the Gazans could use in their publicity to justify a holocaust. They then started with the barrage of rockets and consistently dishonoured all ceasefires. This would infuriate Israel to bomb Gaza and to eventually advance to the Gazan border. Their perception that due to the Israeli’s passion in preserving the lives of their soldiers, they would be satisfied with a last minute ceasefire with the purpose of discussing peace and not proceed with ground-troops incursion.

Since the Israelis were aware that there were tunnels – but not aware of those running into Israel itself – the Gazans would advance through the tunnels and commence with their holocaust. Further justification for their proposed slaughter would be the disparity in damage and loss of life between Israel and Hamas.  

The murder of the three teenagers eventually led to the discovery of the tunnels into Israel. The destruction of the tunnels created the situation where the Israeli success in the war and the failure to kill sufficient Jews by the Gazans, as was their original intention made it too expensive an exercise to pursue.

This is why, I think, that they went to Cairo and where their positioning of their interests superceded their religious fervor.

• Leon Reich is chair of Likud South Africa, sits on the SAZF Mancom and is a life-long student of Middle Eastern affairs