The conflict in the Middle East is an issue plagued by misconceptions. It is a debate about which everyone has an opinion, and one in which both sides love to hate the other. In his recent piece ("The Pieces of the Puzzle," April 8), Zachary Hyatt made some hefty accusations about the Middle East that I take issue with.
First, his solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is to "subdue Hamas" and "prop up the moderate, secular Palestinian Authority" of the West Bank. This assertion, so commonly thrown around, completely negates the role of democracy; Hamas was legally elected in the 2006 Palestinian elections. There were international election observers present, and it was globally recognized that Hamas fairly won 76 out of 132 seats in the Palestinian parliament. Therefore, to nonchalantly label this party a mere terrorist group alienates the over 400,000 voters who gave Hamas their vote. The same applies to Hezbollah, so often labeled a terrorist group, which currently holds 14 of the 64 Muslim seats in the Lebanese Parliament and is becoming more and more likely to win a majority in the June elections.
I am in no way condoning Hamas or Hezbollah's ideologies or practices. But in order to come to any peace or understanding in the Middle East conflict, it is time to at least recognize the legitimacy that both of these political parties hold in the eyes of their constituents.
Furthermore, the vocabulary of "propping up" the Palestinian Authority seems inherently erroneous. The reason the Palestinian Authority is declining in influence is because it has lost credibility with the Palestinians, who see it as collaborating with or acquiescing to the West too often. To attempt to artificially bolster an unpopular political party would not do us any good.
That being said, it is still necessary to find a way to undermine the authority of Hamas. The way to do that is to provide a better solution to the people of Gaza -- an alternative source of hope. This can be done rather simply at the moment by giving aid to Gaza. The most recent conflict with Israel has created a chance to put politics aside and provide significant, substantial humanitarian assistance to the Gazans (open the borders!). If we provide the Gazans with basic necessities of life like water, electricity, security and food, they will have a greater ability to restart their lives. And, if they have more to lose, they will hold Hamas, their representative, more accountable for maintaining peace. In that way, Hamas will be forced to do what is truly best for its people, which is to stop shooting rockets at Israel, and work towards a compromise. Only the people of Gaza, the ones who voted Hamas in, have the real power to convince the party to change its platform. They are the ones on whom we should focus our energy.
We can look at the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war as an example. When Israel withdrew, leaving southern Lebanon and much of Beirut in shambles, we and the international community wrung our hands over political considerations, terrorist groups, etc. Iran and Hezbollah, on the other hand, stepped in immediately with aid; Iran gave $12,000 to every family whose home had been destroyed, in addition to intense infrastructural rebuilding. We, in turn, labeled the Iranian aid organization, the Waad Company, a terrorist-supporting group. That move merely alienated the thousands of Lebanese who had gratefully received supplies from the Waad Company -- to them it seemed we did not care about their suffering, only about pointing fingers. Who benefited politically from all of this? Iran and Hezbollah, because they were seen as providing the most expeditious and efficient aid.
If we had provided aid in Lebanon, as we have the chance to do in Gaza, the Lebanese would have seen us as contributing something to their well-being -- sadly, a novel concept in those parts. That would significantly improve our image in the eyes of the people of the Middle East, and would pull the moderate majorities away from extremist parties like Hamas and Hezbollah.
We have seen for many years that, no matter how many regions we kick Hezbollah out of, or how many times Israel bombs Hamas, these groups manage to return. It is not through brute force that the extremists will be bested -- that merely intensifies their determination, and buys them new followers.
It is instead through direct engagement with the people of these turbulent regions, and the investment in them, that we can effect change.
