STEVE PIECZENIK TALKS

In the Circle Of Terrorism: Hamas Fights ISIS in Gaza!
What an interesting paradox. Contrary to the pervasive language of ‘war on terror’, we already recognize that terror is a tactic and not an entity or body of fighting units. Yet one element of surprise that I have found in my long career in counter-terrorism, is the crucial even ironic paradox that terrorism ends up fighting terrorism. For decades, I have witnessed this unique phenomenon where one political group that used terrorist tactics in the past then becomes legitimate but then must use terror to neutralize a rival, newly formed terrorist group. 

This just happened with Hamas. Remember: Hamas was created in the late 1980’s as a counterforce to the PLO and PFLP. Now Hamas must use it’s once formidable terrorist fighters and order them to ferret out the still nascent ISIS cells working in the hot bed called, “Gaza City”. Only one year ago, Israel and the world were bemoaning the very atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli citizens. Now Israel will help Hamas [usually covertly] to infiltrate those groups of malcontents who are discredited members of Hamas or the PLO and decided to join ISIS. The rationale for joining ISIS is usually quite standard—disaffection with previous terrorist groups and a newly found attraction for Salafism.

If one takes a long view of how terrorism becomes an endless circle of self-destructive killing, one can recall the origins of Israel and the Irgun Zvai Leumi. Remember how the IZL was neutralized by the pre-cursors to the IDF –Ben Gurion’s Haganah. The IDF played with and encouraged the PLO, PFLP and other terrorist groups to create ‘strategic tensions’ in the that part of the world. Eventually the PLO under Arafat became legitimate and then it had to fight it’s own break off extremist element—Hamas.

You get it!

It’s a never ending circle of guns, bullets and fear. Yet the political aspirations are eventually achieved not by violence but by outside negotiations. Then the new government, which came into power using terrorism, must await a new unpredictable eruption of violence from another groups of believers and killers. I predict that Hamas, with the quiet help of it’s Middle East neighbors, will resolve this messy situation and will enter into a new era of financial growth and success sponsored by Israel, France, Germany, and Turkey [with the silent help of Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar].

How do I know?
In my experience, usually money and trade trumps all forms of unsustainable violence. Violence begets violence until money begets legitimacy. That is the circle of resolution for which we now wait…..