What Does H.A.M.A.S. Really Stands For?

Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni Muslim group that is internationally recognized as a terrorist organization.  Hamas which has dominated the Gaza Strip since 2005 when Israeli settlements were voluntarily relinquished settlements to implement the Oslo Accords as part of the peace process.

Hamas is an acronym for Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, Arabic for "Islamic Resistance Movement".  The acronym means "Enthusiasm".  But sometimes acronyms are given more meaning by actions. 

The modus operandi of Hamas is to indiscriminately lob crude missiles at their Israeli "enemy" (the one's who ceded the territory where they operate).  But these "brave" Muslim Brotherhood affiliates operate their rockets in the middle of civilian settlements, schools  or mosques.   The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) discovered 20 missiles in schools run by UNRWA and then handed them back to the "local authorities" to then be fired at Israel.  Then there is  the Shuja'iya neighborhood in Northern Gaza, Hamas used a mosque and two adjacent buildings connected by tunnels were extended to the Israeli border and used as a depot for Hamas rockets. 

Even though the Israeli Defense Forces give early warning to civilians to evacuate before the IDF attacks in Gaza, the inhabitants defiantly refuse to leave.  Some pro-Palestinian apologies reason "Where can they go?"  But Hamas spokemen urged the civilians not to heed the IDF warnings.  These human shields can then be pointed to as brutality by their enemy.  This is why Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu labels Hamas tactics as a double war crime.

Hamas knows that it can not win conventional warfare against the IDF, but if enough Palestinian civilians are killed during Operation Protective Edge, the International Press can decry the humanitarian loss along with an anti-semetic gloss.  

Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier anticipated this culture of death among militant Palestinians when she proclaimed: "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.  We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.".

Even though Hamas might sound like enthusiasm in Arabic, based upon their tactics and weltanschaaung, what Hamas really stands for is Hiding Among Mosques and Schools.

h/t: Steve Breen

Sec. State John Kerry's Open Mike Admonition of Israel

President Obama's current Secretary of State John F. Kerry was making the rounds on the Sunday morning talking heads shows.  With the crises concerning the shootdown of a commercial airliner in Ukraine by Russian paramilitaries, the quiet but questionable extension of Iranian nuclear talks and Israel's military incursion into Gaza to stop a fortnight of wild bombardments by Hamas forces, Kerry even felt obliged to venture to the challenging confines of Fox News.  

During the contentious conversation between FNC Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and Mr. Kerry, the Secretary of State was challenged to explain an on-mike "moment of truth" uttered about Israel''s Operation Protective Edge.  While Kerry was in front of a television camera in Foggy Bottom and wired via microphone to FNC, the Secretary of State had a conversation with an aide named John. 

 Kerry sarcastically characterized the IDF's actions as  "a helluva pinpoint operation" to root out terror tunnels on the Israel/Gaza border.   Kerry indicated that he felt compelled to rush over to the region.  

It is worth nothing that these terror tunnels are on Israeli territory and the IDF has destroyed dozens of them in the first few days of Operation Protective Edge 

Secretary of State Kerry's tone and tenor seems to demonstrate the Obama Administration's veiled disdain for America's strongest and most reliable ally in the region, namely Israel.

The episode also underlines the imprudence of the Obama Administration's repeated conduct of sensitive foreign policy subjects within range of a "hot mike".  In March 2012, when President Obama told then  Russian President Dmitri Medvedev:   “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” Medvedev's infamous answer sounded like codewords from KAOS but indicated more friendly relations with the Russian Federation.