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Former Senator Chuck Hagel, Barack Obama’s nominee for US Defense Secretary will likely get confirmed by the Senate today when his appointment comes up for a vote.

Hagel supports US engagement with Hamas. He also allegedly received money from a Hamas-associated organization.
In all the verbiage we are exposed to everyday, sometimes it is hard to understand the significance of positions like this. On its face, when taken in isolation from reality, calling for the US to engage Hamas seems like an eminently reasonable position. After all, Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian elections. It seized control of Gaza in 2007. It is powerful. Why should the US refuse to legitimize it? Doesn’t America like the Palestinians? And didn’t the Palestinians choose to be led by Hamas? How can America support the Palestinians and disavow their democratically elected leaders?
But then, nestled up next to these arguments is a little thing called reality. And beyond Harvard-styled pseudo-sophisticated pontifications, it is important to consider the actual significance of a position like that of the soon-to-be-confirmed US Secretary of Defense. Who and what is Hagel seeking to legitimize by adopting this position? What is Hamas?
So here is a clip from 2010 of a speech by senior Hamas leader, (and respected physician), Mahmoud al-Zahar.
All the senators who plan to vote for Hagel, as well as those, led by Senator John McCain who refuse to filibuster his appointment, need to be asked whether they agree that Hamas should be engaged by the US. And if they don’t agree, then how do they justify their support for a man who feels comfortable sitting down with Hamas? Do they think that Hagel’s position is a reasonable, legitimate position that they respectfully disagree with? If so, can they explain what is reasonable and legitimate about his position?
Oh, and just in case they think that al-Zahar’s position is somehow not that of Hamas’s top leaders, here’s a link to and interview last week with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on the BBC’s Hardtalk. He categorically rejected the two-state solution. He made clear that at no time will Hamas agree to accept Israel. Rather, Hamas will continue to seek Israel’s annihilation in accordance with the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people.
In the interview, Mashaal also refused to disavow or in any way express regret for the speech he made in Gaza where he called for Israel’s complete annihilation, in accordance with Hamas’s covenant and the teachings of Hassan al Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as Banna is quoted in the Hamas covenant.
Here’s that speech from December 27, 2012.
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10 Comments

  • RJ 02/12/2013 at 7:11

    You’ve got to have a bad guy when you need to sell others on your game plan…well, at least if it worked for others on your side, then it just may work again!
    For years now, on my American television screen I have watched the results of this discord and unrepentant warring with Israel. How many decades have my eyes seen the results of this hatred and expressed anger?
    However, the screen shots of those bombings seen to show a vast divide relative to the health of our warring groups. When the Jews come to the aid of those citizens captured in a terrorist attack one sees on screen a medical presence, modern vehicles designed to help the injured live and be transported to a local medical facility, police attempting to assert order and control, along with fellow citizens attempting to aid the injured.
    Not so with those of the non Jewish communities. Here one sees screaming men, carrying the dead and injured around seeking any vehicle which might transport them out of the scene of carnage. Where are their doctors and nurses, even the police seem to be shouting in anger. Note the surrounding buildings, the condition of the streets, the age of vehicles.
    Two societies, side by side, yet one seems to be progressing while the other appears to be locked into a mortal hatred toward their neighbors.
    North Korea and Iran, along with Pakistan, supported by communist states, will continue to foment their poisons and share them with your enemies, and our enemies.
    America’s only problem is that within our national government we have far too many elected officials who nod in agreement with these evil people and societies, offering an easier access to our shores and within our social structures. Cancer is upon us!
    Will Brennan be asked if he converted to Islam and is indeed now a practicing Muslim? With “political correctness” running rampant as a game to “shut your mouth” here in the States, I doubt such a question might arise during his hearing today…I hope it will, but I doubt it.
    Evil is the lead horse in this race, at this time. We’ll see how long this lasts and what damages will be done.
    The rise of barbarians comes again!

    Reply
  • Anonymous 02/12/2013 at 11:18

    There may be exceptions but my understanding is that 60 votes are required to override a filibuster. If Republicans filibuster, the Democrats will likely need every Democratic Senator’s vote plus about 5 Republican.
    There may be a half dozen or so Republicans willing to cross over but a filibuster will likely force every Jewish Democratic Senator to stand up and be counted as either a friend of Israel, or an adversary.

    Reply
  • Donald 02/12/2013 at 11:24

    I believe today’s vote, if it occurs, is just in the committee, which will refer it to the full Senate. Passage is expected in the committee. Full Senate is hard to call right now.

    Reply
  • https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawnTwanVQM5mDVqhVJYsr8IKwo6UzgAZcmI 02/12/2013 at 12:40

    Since the policy will be Obama’s, there is no point in wasting political capital on this.
    It was important to go on record objecting and it was important to get Hagel on record saying things he will later repudiate. (It was also important to show everyone what an ass Hagel is.)
    Aside from that, it is Obama’s policy so let him own it.

    Reply
  • Anonymous 02/12/2013 at 12:58

    Glick, you are a genius.

    Reply
  • farrell.chris37 02/12/2013 at 13:36

    Everything Mr. Obama has accomplished in the commission of the criminal usurpation of the presidency is understandable in light of the recognition of the fact that he is an enemy agent of Islam practicing taqqiya.
    I believe he arranged for the U.S. drone to be delivered to Iran. I believe he deliberately instigated the so-called ‘Arab Spring.’
    I believe he coordinated the recovery of an already dead Osama Bin Laden in order to receive the credit for his kill. (Osama received in return a reverential Islamic burial aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and the attributed death of a martyr–the number one name given to male children born in Pakistan today is Osama.)
    I believe Obama is a Muslim and that his ultimate objective is the advance of Islam.
    Socialism is a red carpet laid out for the advance of Islam within a society under siege. Please read ‘Eurabia’ by Bat Ye’or.

    Reply
  • Rivka 02/12/2013 at 13:53

    Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on the BBC’s Hardtalk “categorically rejected the two-state solution.”
    Caroline, Is this a “con” of Hamas – that they reject the two-state solution?
    Please comment, thanks, Rebekah

    Reply
  • Anonymous 02/12/2013 at 16:03

    EVERY SENATOR MUST BE CALLED, AND CALLED OUT!
    Here is a link that lists all US Senators along with the phone number to their Washington DC office:
    http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
    A NO vote is a no brainer. These appointments (Brennen and Hagal) are dangerous and vile.

    Reply
  • naomir 02/12/2013 at 20:55

    The hatred, brutality and lies spoken by these Palestinian leaders are beyond despicable. By his denial of Hamas’s true agenda Chuck Hagel has been a willing participant in the continuing terrorism perpetuated by the Palestinians. As for President Obama, he has despite his pretty words to the contrary, shown where his sympathies lie. Hagel will be nominated simply because political correctness once again wins hands down. Congress in the main is all talk. Members of Congress who do speak out are shouted down every time. In the final analysis Israel stands alone. We can only thank you Caroline for doing your very best to sort out this ongoing debacle.

    Reply
  • sister-in-christ 02/16/2013 at 15:03

    I don’t think Hagel’s been confirmed yet, so after reading this I contacted Feinstein again and asked her only one question:” do you support US engagement with Hamas?” I’ll let you know what she replies with if she does.

    Reply

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