It is a sad day for
humanity when a people choose to elect terrorists as their leaders.
But for those of us
who believe that clarity is the prerequisite to moral progress,
the landslide victory of the terrorist organization Hamas in Palestine
has a silver lining.
First and foremost,
it proves what people who perceive reality have been saying for
decades: The great majority of Palestinians -- like the majority
of Arabs elsewhere and like vast numbers of non-Arab Muslims --
want Israel destroyed. Even granting legitimacy to the argument
that the complete moral, financial and political corruption of
Fatah was partly responsible for the Hamas victory, those who
voted for Hamas did not find that organization's terror, religious
celebration of murder or charter calling for Israel's destruction
an impediment to their vote.
It is true that in
1933, some Germans who voted for the Nazis did so out of anger
at the Versailles Treaty and because of the economic chaos that
engulfed their country. Indeed, it is widely agreed among historians
that Hitler played down anti-Semitism in the Nazis' electoral
campaigning. But every German voter was aware of the ferocity
of the Nazis' Jew-hatred. And, whatever the case in 1933 Germany,
in 2006 Palestine, Hamas has never played down its anti-Semitism
or its support for continuing terrorism.
So the Palestinian
vote reveals the falsity of the worldwide Left's view of the Palestinians
as committed to peace. It likewise reveals the falsity of the
Left's belief that Palestinian terror is supported by a small
minority of the Palestinian population.
That is one reason
why the Bush doctrine -- we need to spread democracy everywhere
possible, including, or even especially, in the Arab world --
is so valid. You cannot deal with any problem in life -- from
the most personal to the most macro -- by engaging in wishful
thinking and denying reality.
Thanks to this election,
the mask has been removed. When given the opportunity to express
themselves, most Arabs and many Muslims elsewhere support terror
and seek the annihilation of Israel. That is why the Hamas victory
is such a defeat for the world's Left -- university professors,
news media, socialist parties, the European Union, the United
Nations, "peace" activists, editorial writers, and all
other apologists for the Palestinians.
A personal anecdote
will help illustrate this. Two years ago, thanks to the Hoover
Institution at Stanford, I spent a week lecturing at the university.
Coincidentally, Israel's Independence Day fell during that same
week, and pro-Israel students asked me to speak at their rally
honoring Israel.
In my remarks, I mentioned
that the primary reason for the Arab-Israeli conflict was that
the majority of Palestinians wanted Israel destroyed.
A woman who introduced
herself as "a peace activist" walked over to me afterward
and said I was wrong, that, in fact, the majority of Palestinians
wanted peace with Israel. I asked her to go over to the Arab students
who were attending a counter protest against Israel and ask them
if they accepted the right of a Jewish state of Israel to exist.
I bet her $5 they would say "no." She took the bet.
Fifteen minutes later,
she came back to me.
"Well, who won
the bet?" I asked.
"I don't know,"
she responded.
"What do you
mean you 'don't know'? What did they say?"
"They all asked
me, 'What do you mean?'"
Though not one Arab
student answered "yes," she still didn't get it.
This peace
activist, like other "peace activists" and just about
everyone on the Left, lives in a state of wishful thinking. As
director Steven Spielberg, commenting on the Arab-Israeli dispute,
recently told Time magazine, "The only thing that's
going to solve this is rational minds, a lot of sitting down and
talking until you're blue in the gills."
On just about every
issue, the Left lives in a childlike fantasy realm. Their views
are expressions of what they wish for, not what actually is.
Here is a small sample:
-- Support for terror
represents a tiny sliver of the Muslim world.
-- All cultures are
essentially morally equivalent.
-- The United Nations
is a wonderful institution and the best hope of mankind.
-- Men and women are
basically the same.
-- It makes no difference
whether children are raised by a loving man and woman or by two
loving parents of the same sex.
-- Violent criminals
in our society are pushed into crime by socioeconomic circumstances,
not because of their own flawed characters and values.
-- War is not the
answer.
The list of leftist
positions based on a rejection of reality is as long as a list
of leftist positions.
That's why it is often
said that "a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged."
But that, too, is wishful thinking. After some initial cognitive
dissonance, the Hamas victory will have little or no impact on
most leftists.
The day after
the Hamas landslide, the Los Angeles Times editorialized,
"Most Palestinians, like most Israelis, want peace."
Sure they do. Just not with Israel.
Copyright
2005 Creators Syndicate
