LOS ANGELES.–Returning to the Mideast for the 11th time since the Gaza War began Oct. 8, 2023, 62-year-old Anthony Blinken hopes for a ceasefire breakthrough with Hamas but nothing has changed other than Israel killing 62-year-old Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar Oct. 16. Blinken and Biden have pushed hard for a ceasefire, sometimes threatening 74-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a loss of cash-and-arms, all because Hamas refuses to turn over what’s left of the 105 Israeli hostages, most of whom are already dead. Biden and Blinken have failed to do what’s 100% needed to get a permanent ceasefire by working with U.S. allies to demand that Hamas leave the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu can’t end the war until Hamas has been permanently removed from Gaza where they’ve looted the densely populated Mediterranean area since seizing it June 14, 2007.
Gaza was controlled the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority [PA] before Hamas seized the territory due to a dispute with 88-year-old PA leader Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has no power to rule the West Bank, let alone the Gaza Strip, knowing he’s a step away from his own demise if he challenges Hamas. Abbas inherited the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] in 2004, after its founder Yasser Arafat was poisoned most likely by Hamas. Abbas has no power over Hamas or other Palestinian radicals, like Islamic Jihad, only serves a titular role in ruling over the West Bank. Blinken’s new trip face the same problems as all previous ones knowing that nothing can be done until Hamas leaves Gaza. Why the U.S., EU and Arab Gulf States have not demanded that Hamas leave Gaza is anyone’s guess? Hamas has been decimated by Israel but thinks it can continue to hang on to the Gaza Strip.
Blinken arrives in Israel thinking that the death of Sinwar opens a crack in the door for more diplomacy with Hamas to finally end the war. But Blinken knows that before Hamas is willing to leave Gaza, the war will continue to go on with all its humanitarian problems for 2.3 million Palestinians living in the battered seaside territory. Hamas sees anyone in Gaza as martyrs for the cause of liberating Arab lands from the Jews. When Arabs lived in the Holy Land under Ottoman Turk and British rule for over 500 years, they had no problem with their Ottoman and British rulers. But once the British deeded the Holy Land to Israel in 1948, the uprisings, revolts and wars never stopped. No question that the root causes of anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, just pure hatred for Jews, a continuation of the same genocidal philosophy that ruled the German Nazi regime before and during WW II.
Hamas was founded in 1987 by blind Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to serve as the military wing of Yasser Arafat’s PLO. Hamas never agreed to any of Arafat’s peace overtures to Israel, expressly adhering to its one-dimensional mission of destroying Israel. Arafat agreed with Yassin’s goals but tried to legitimize the Palestinian movement by playing along with various peace overtures. Blinken returns to the Mideast to repeat the same mistakes he’s made over the last year to somehow pressure Netanyahu into allowing Hamas to stay in Gaza, knowing it would undermine any future peace. All Mideast peace experts know that Hamas has no intent of abandoning its mission to destroy Israel. What happened on Oct. 7, 2023, was just a painful reminder of Hamas intent to continue Hitler’s Final Solution of murdering what’s left of Jews in the Middle East.
For Blinken to make his latest trip worthwhile, he would have to convince Arab leaders, especially Egypt and Qatar, and EU leaders to demand that Hamas get out of Gaza. No EU or Arab State believes that Hamas can continue to rule Gaza, especially during its reconstruction. “I told him [Netanyahu] we were really pleased his actions and, further, that now is the time to move on—move on, move towards a ceasefire,” Biden said, repeating the same rubbish as before. Biden and Harris warned Netanyahu not to go into Rafah where he eventually neutralized Sinwar, leading to the current situation. But without Biden and Blinken working on an Arab and EU coalition to demand that Hamas leave Gaza, Blinken’s latest trip will wind up failing like the prior ones. Biden should not be managing any foreign or domestic policies knowing his deteriorated state.
Whatever happens with Blinken’s trip, it’s not going to yield a breakthrough on a ceasefire deal until after the Nov. 5 election. Biden hoped to play politics with the Mideast East, hoping to give himself a lasting legacy and boost Kamala’s chances on Election Day. But without Biden and Blinken getting an ironclad commitment from Mideast and EU partners for Hamas to leave Gaza, Blinken’s trip is another exercise in futility. Former President Donald Trump said Biden-Harris’s approach of pressuring Netanyahu was the wrong way to go to bring about a ceasefire. Trump would give Netanyahu the green light to do whatever it wants to finally end Hamas rule in Gaza. Blinken “will discuss the importance of bring the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of hostages and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” all just claptrap until Hamas agrees to leave Gaza.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
