The Hamas Wall

From an interview with Sari Nusseibeh, the prominent Palestinian moderate, who lately has been advocating a joint Israeli-Palestinian confederation, rather than the traditional two-state solution, which he thinks is no longer workable. He blames everyone for the situation he currently sees, though this quote stood out for me, because today's journalism doesn't seem to recognize all that often that it was Hamas that forced the creation of the wall between the West Bank and Israel (for what it's worth, the wall, in my opinion, is a necessary defensive barrier, but at points on the map it also becomes an excuse for a land-grab by Israel. But mainly it was erected in order to keep Hamas suicide bombers from murdering civilians):
SPIEGEL: (Hamas leader) Khaled Mashaal recently said that Hamas should focus on non-violent resistance. Do you believe him?

Nusseibeh: I remember a situation with him, maybe 10 years ago. It was at the height of the second intifada, and it was the first time I was invited for a comment on Al-Jazeera. I tried to explain why suicide attacks were not good, that they would not achieve anything. I did not initially realize that Mashaal was on the other side. He replied that I was talking rubbish and that suicide attacks are great and shooting and killing is great. That is why I got so fed up when I heard him now saying he wants civil resistance. Why is he coming up with this now, after 10 years of having ruined us? The entire wall (ed's note: the West Bank barrier) would not have been built. Things would be so different today.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/02/the-hamas-wall/253436/