An article published by the American magazine “The Intercept” asked about the danger of the people who run the world not knowing the most basic political facts, against the backdrop of a recently published article about the Israeli attack on Gaza, written by the British politician Ben Wallace, who was the United Kingdom’s Minister of Defense until a few months ago.
Writer John Schwarz stated that the problem is that Wallace attached great importance to the original charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of 1988, without knowing that Hamas issued a new charter in 2017, in which it affirmed that “its struggle is with the Zionist project and not with the Jews because of their religion.”
The amended charter rejects the legitimacy of Zionism, and accepts “the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, along the lines of June 4, 1967, with the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes from which they were expelled, as a formula for national consensus.”
Hamas Charter
The writer added that Wallace’s failure to cite the current Hamas charter is dissatisfying, especially since his overall point of view is “reasonable” in terms of his indication that what Israel is currently doing will fuel the conflict for another 50 years.
Wallace was quoted as strongly criticizing the Hamas charter and accused it of being anti-Semitic and anti-democratic, claiming that “a ceasefire cannot be reached with Hamas unless it is prepared to announce it. Until then, they will have to pledge to amend their charter to do so.”
The writer explains that, given the way Wallace presented the issue, it is unlikely that this former minister deliberately ignored Hamas’s revision of its charter in 2017. Rather, it is almost certain that he did not know that the revision existed at all, and this issue is considered important for two reasons:
The first – the writer explains – is that the current Hamas charter does not constitute an insurmountable barrier to accepting the two-state solution and achieving peace, according to the writer.
ignorance
The second reason – the author continues – is the necessity of recognizing that many of the people who sit at the top of the power structures in the world have no idea what they are talking about. In this context, Jimmy Carter once wrote that he wished he had read about the history of American aggression in Central America before he became president, and perhaps the peoples of Central America wished that as well.
The writer adds that in a similar way, the Palestinians would be happier if people like Wallace – whose term as Defense Minister of the United Kingdom lasted 4 years – could gain knowledge of their history that at least matches what is available in the Wikipedia blog.
For additional information, Wallace could have learned the basics of the Likud Party, which is currently headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The party’s original 1977 platform declares that “between the sea and the Jordan River there will be nothing but Israeli sovereignty.”
The writer stresses that there is no pressure on Wallace and others like him to learn these important facts. Rather, all the pressures push them in the other direction. For example, for his trite observations about the reality of oppression that breeds extremism, Wallace has been accused of potentially “stirring up anti-Semitic hatred.”
The article concluded that the world desperately needs officials to have an understanding of the facts, at least so that they do not accidentally destroy everything.
