Blame Hamas for border violence, not Israel or U.S.

Reporter Anne Flaherty’s report on the “violent clashes” at the Israel-Gaza border omitted key facts, not the least of which is the party responsible for the violence: Hamas and their Iranian sponsor (“Trump’s aides celebrate Jerusalem embassy as border burns,” May14).

Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews. Along with other U.S.-designated terrorist groups, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas has orchestrated the demonstrations, interspersing armed operatives among human shields for propaganda effect. According to an April 26, 2018, report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, as many as 80 percent of the Palestinians fatally shot up to that point have been linked to terrorist organizations. Hamas itself has openly acknowledged several of them as “martyrs.”

Nor are the protests because “infuriated” Palestinians, upset with the U.S. sovereign right to move its embassy, “seek east Jerusalem as a future capital.” In fact, Palestinian leadership has turned down several formal U.S. and Israeli offers for statehood in exchange for peace that would have given them a state with its capital in that portion of Jerusalem — most recently in 2008. What then were the “protests” really about? Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s exhortation prior to the demonstrations says it all: “We will take down the border and tear out their hearts from their bodies.”