There can be no peace if Hamas remains

All of us should demand a cease-fire in the Gaza war, which has killed or injured tens of thousands of Palestinians But, a cease-fire involves serious negotiations between Hamas and the Israeli government, and Hamas has refused to negotiate the return of the remaining 100-plus hostages seized in the October invasion of Israel. Hamas, for the third time since its founding, has violated previously negotiated cease-fires.

It is indeed unfortunate that college students who are protesting and waving Palestinian flags have never learned the history of the region. Since the 1948 founding of Israel when Palestine residents who fled their homeland because of an invasion unleashed by a number of other Arab countries to destroy Israel were denied citizenship in neighboring Arab countries and are still denied citizenship 75 years later.

Protesting students should be aware that funds given by the U.N. and others to Hamas for developing industry and commerce and humanitarian aid in Gaza were instead used by Hamas to construct a maze of tunnels dug under hospitals, schools and mosques in Gaza, tunnels that were used for terrorist headquarters and storage of offensive weaponry for use in the October invasion of Israel.

The Hamas covenant clearly spells out why all attempts to negotiate a cease-fire will fail. A translation of this document states the following: “Peace initiatives and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”

The goal of Hamas is a cease-fire long enough to rearm and restart the conflict again. By hiding among civilians and using them as shields in Gaza, Hamas has clearly demonstrated that the lives of their countrymen have value to them only as propaganda. Hamas must be destroyed and replaced by a government that cares for its citizens before there can ever be a successful two-state solution.

Robert Frankel

Schaumburg