Fantasy

Let's start with a very important factoid—Hamas and the other palestinian factions get more foreign aid per capita than any other people on the face of the planet. You'd think that all of this aid could be used to improve their infrastructure (e.g., electricity distribution system) in Gaza—a geography that Israel left over a decade ago and is run independently by Hamas. Nope—corruption, Islamist ideology, and the re-channeling of aid into weapons of war have resulted in Gaza becoming a failed state. Of course, the palestinians and their 'useful idiots' on the Left tell us it's all Israel's fault. Think again.

The Left and their trained hamsters in the media say the same thing about the violent attacks by Hamas (resulting in the deaths of Hamas members and the civilians they put in harm's way) that occurred this week along a fence that separates Israel from Gaza. "It's all Israel's fault." Nope.

The editors of the Jerusalem Post comment:

Ostensibly, the violent “marches of return” that took place in at least six difference locations along the fence, coincided with Land Day, which commemorates those Palestinians killed on March 30, 1976, during demonstrations against Israeli expropriation of land in the Galilee. The rioting is planned to continue through May 15, the date on which Israel announced its independence 70 years ago, but which the Palestinians refer to as “Catastrophe Day.”

However, the riots come at a time when Hamas’s political leadership in Gaza is in crisis. The terrorist organization, which violently wrested control over Gaza Strip in 2007, two years after Israel evacuated, has failed to care for the Palestinians who live there. Islamists who came to power with the slogan “Islam is the answer” have realized after a decade that even running a tiny coastal enclave is impossible while clinging to a Muslim theology that leaves no room for compromise or pragmatism.

Hamas channels its limited resources into preparation for another failed war with Israel instead of investing in improving the lives of Gaza’s citizens.

The results of Hamas’s intransigence are tragically evident. Paralyzing electricity shortages leave Gaza’s inhabitants with just a few hours of electricity per day; running water is available only one day out of four on average and the over-pumping of aquifers has resulted in seeping of saltwater; unemployment rates are skyrocketing; and the rebuilding of Gaza after the 2014 conflict with Israel is stalled.

Attempts at reconciliation with the Fatah leadership in the West Bank have gone nowhere because both sides care more about their own aggrandizement than about the betterment of the Palestinian people. Hamas had hoped it would be allowed to continue to control Gaza militarily, while the Palestinian Authority, funded by generous foreign donors – mostly Americans and Europeans – would foot the bill for the day-to-day expenses of running an autonomous enclave. Mahmoud Abbas, PA president and head of Fatah, has reacted by stopping the flow of PA funds to Gaza. No one in the West Bank or Gaza even entertains the possibility of democratic elections, which were last held in 2006 and left Hamas with a plurality of the votes.

The palestinians have decided that they will triumph when Israel ceases to exist. That means that their fantasy country will remain nothing but a fantasy for decades to come.