Prometheus 6

If the U.S. and Israel had formed a Joint Commission to Support Hamas Extremists and Bolster Iranian Influence, they could hardly have done a better job.

Strengthening Extremists
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

GAZA

The yearlong siege of Gaza may soon end with the new cease-fire there, marking the eclipse of one more American-backed Israeli policy that backfired by strengthening extremists.

Here in Gaza, sulfurous with fumes from cars burning cooking grease because the siege has made gasoline scarce, the entire last year of the blockade feels not only morally bankrupt — a case of collective punishment — but also counterproductive. The fragile new truce between Hamas and Israel just might create a new opportunity to stabilize the Palestinian territories, but only if we absorb the lessons of what has gone wrong.

Consider Adham Sharif, a 26-year-old man whose only child, a baby girl named Mariam, had a tiny hole in her heart and needed surgery to repair it. Gaza hospitals were unable to perform such an operation, but doctors said that surgeons in Israel or in neighboring countries could save her.

In theory, there was an exception to the siege to let people out of Gaza in medical emergencies. But Mr. Sharif could not get the Israeli permit for Mariam to leave, and she died in November. “It’s so hard,” he told me. “You see your child dying, and you can’t save her.”

Does Mr. Sharif blame Hamas as the cause of the blockade that cost his daughter’s life? “Of course not,” he said. “I blame the ones who closed the border: Israel. And America, its ally.”

Now when he hears of extremists firing rockets at southern Israeli towns like Sderot, Mr. Sharif has a warm feeling all over.

When Hamas won democratic elections in Gaza and then seized full power a year ago, there were no good choices for Israel and America. Hamas includes terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists and ideologues, and it has cultivated ties with Iran. It has decent governance by the region’s devalued standards — it is not particularly corrupt; it delivers social services efficiently, and the streets are safe — but it runs a police state and alarms all its neighbors.

Of all the bad choices, Israel chose perhaps the worst. Punishing everyone in Gaza radicalized the population, cast Hamas as a victim, gave its officials an excuse for economic failures and undermined the moderates who are the best hope of both Israel and the Arab world.