Rafah opening brings senior Hamas terrorist

Barak, owner and gatekeeper of IRIS Blog, has written the following:

Prediction Confirmed: Rafah Opening Brings Senior Hamas Terrorist

On Friday, the day of the opening of the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza, I predicted that the "anti-terrorist security measure" of a live video feed given to Israel in exchange for five sweeping strategic concessions was a "charade". My prediction was:

Get ready for a lot more terrorists and heavy weapons in Gaza and the West Bank.

Yesterday I reiterated that:

The Rafah deal was a complete capitulation by Israel. The "video feed" was a meaningless attempt to save face

Today brings news that:

Senior Hamas Operative Crosses into Gaza Strip, by Khaled Abu Toameh

Only days after the Rafah border crossing was reopened, another senior Hamas operative who previously lived abroad crossed back into the Gaza Strip.

Fadel Zahar is the first high-ranking Hamas official known to return to the Gaza Strip since the border crossing was reopened last Friday. His brother, Mahmoud Zahar, is the top leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Fadel Zahar was deported from the Gaza Strip in 1991....Many Hamas members who have been living in different Arab countries have returned to the Gaza Strip since Israel relinquished control over the Rafah terminal ....Sources close to Hamas said many of its activists, including top leaders, have managed to return to the Gaza Strip since the Israeli pullout. Last month one of the founders of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed al-Milh, returned to the Gaza Strip after spending 20 years in different Arab countries.

Shortly after the Israeli withdrawal, three top Hamas fugitives infiltrated into the Gaza Strip. One of them, Nihro Masoud of the Jabalya refugee camp, was one of the founders of Izzaddin al-Kassam. He fled to Egypt 14 years ago and spent most of his time in Sudan.

Of course, this is all further confirmation of my predictions since August that the post-Gaza withdrawal priority of the Palestinians would not be constructive state-building, but rather a:

two-pronged strategy of creating a world terror hub in Gaza and then transfering as much of that capability to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

I predict that tomorrow the mainstream press will bury this news and be filled instead with praise for how smoothly and successfully the opening went.

Folks, Barak is right. Here's why:

Palestinian and Arab spokesmen commonly claim that palestinian terrorism is the result of the Israeli 'occupation' of the West Bank and Gaza, adding that the violence will cease only when the 'occupation' is ended.

Despite this claim, it should be recalled that the many palestinian and Arab rejectionist factions (such as the Hamas and the Hizbullah) repeatedly declare that even if Israel would fully withdraw from the territories they will continue their attacks, since they refute Israel's basic right to exist.

Folks, the basic premise of the palestinian claim - that the 'occupation' causes terrorism - is historically flawed. Arab and palestinian terrorism against Israel existed prior to the beginning of Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza as a result of the Six Day War of June 1967, and even prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948.

Arab terrorism was rampant during wave of anti-Jewish riots in 1920-21 (which was characterized by the brutal murder in Jaffa of the prominent Jewish author Y. Brenner), during the 'Disturbances' of 1929 (which included the massacre of the Jewish community in Hebron), during the Arab Revolt of 1936-39, and in many other recorded incidents of wholesale anti-Jewish Arab violence throughout the pre-state period.

The oft-repeated Arab claim that the Israeli 'occupation' is somehow to blame for the palestinian terrorism is nothing more than an empty retort, repudiated by the facts, and disproved by a century of historical reality.