Hamas Offers Peace, US Media Covers 'Threat'
France 24 dutifully reports Hamas's offer to hand over weapons to a Palestinian authority 'if the occupation ends'. (Imagine a prisoner offering to lay down arms, pending release.) This isn't headline news for those actually invested in peace, but a 'challenge' according to the Western press—because a demand for self-determination can't possibly be legitimate when the 'other side' makes it. This
'unacceptable' condition of ending occupation (which, by the way, is illegal under international law) is precisely what Palestinian leaders have been proposing for decades, only to be branded 'rejectionist' or 'terrorist' for asking. One might wonder: how many calls for an end to occupation have to be ignored before they become 'old news'? Netanyahu's government, meanwhile, continues to build
illegal settlements (per UN Security Council Resolution 2334) while simultaneously screaming about 'existential threats.' It seems the only acceptable 'solution' is one where Palestinians simply vanish, or perhaps politely surrender without any preconditions for their own freedom. The audacity of asking for the occupation to *end*! What will they demand next, a state?