Friday, March 29, 2024 -
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Plus ça change…

A screenshot from Rami Aman’s (foreground) phone call. (UNWatch)

On Monday, April 6, Rami Aman participated in a Zoom conversation with “Skype With Your Enemy,” an Israeli-Palestinian bridge-building group.

By week’s end, Aman was being held in a Gaza prison, where he remains until today.

What was Aman’s great crime? Normalization. That is, speaking with Israelis. His crime of seeking peace partners was so offensive to Hind Khoudry, a self-described “Palestinian journalist,” that she publicly denounced him, precipitating his arrest by Hamas.

It’s difficult imagining any journalist finding speech a crime, but not for Khoudary, who wrote a piece for the website Electronic Intifada defending her indefensible action. She claimed that it was her responsibility as a Palestinian to turn Aman in because conversing with the enemy — even if it is about peace — is an unforgivable betrayal of the Palestinian cause.

That’s the problem with causes. They remove humanity from the equation and privilege ideology above all else. For other examples see: Marxism-Leninism and Nazism.

As disturbing as Khoudary’s piece for Electronic Intifada is, it’s almost a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the extremist Palestinian mindset. The sin, according to her, is seeking a way forward with Israel.

Apparently Khoudary doesn’t understand the fundamental truth that one makes peace with one’s enemies, not one’s friends, to paraphrase Moshe Dayan.

How self-defeating it all is. Had Arabs been willing to normalize relations with Israel in 1948, Palestinians would have a national homeland right now, with borders far more expansive than any currently being negotiated. Instead, Palestinian leadership has held steadfast to its anti-normalization ethos, to the detriment of its own people. Israel is a growing, thriving nation, while Palestinians with any ambition and who are able leave the West Bank and Gaza to pursue their education and careers abroad.

How can Khoudary continue to rail against Israeli occupation and bemoan life in Gaza — which is no longer under Israeli occupation — when she denounces as evil those who seek peace? Khoudry would rather see Palestinians continue to suffer than seek peace through dialogue. It’s a bit ironic for someone who claims to care about the Palestinian people above all else.

In took nearly a month for Amnesty International to condemn Fatah and Hamas for using the coronavirus pandemic to detain critics. (Of course the group never hesitates to amplify the arrests of Palestinian activists by Israel.) Will Amnesty stay on Hamas’ case? They don’t have the best track record when it comes to holding Palestinians accountable for human rights violations.

A complete timeline on the disappearance of Rami Aman has been compiled by UN Watch.




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