Hamas Isn’t So Bad Huh?

10 Oct, 2002 by John Hawkins

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Hamas Isn’t So Bad Huh?: From today’s World Tribune…

“The Bush administration has acknowledged failure in winning full cooperation from the European Union in halting financing to Hamas and other Middle East groups deemed as terrorists.

U.S. officials said the EU has placed Al Qaida and related groups on the European list of terrorist sponsors. But the EU has failed to act against insurgency groups linked to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Middle East Newsline reported.

The officials said the EU insists on distinguishing between the political and military activities of insurgency groups.

The result has been a slowdown in international efforts to halt financing to Al Qaida and its satellite organizations in the Middle East. A key dispute between the United States and the EU regards Hamas, officials said. They said the EU maintains a distinction between the military and political wings of the Palestinian group.”

My first thought after reading this was, “Is the EU soft on terrorism or just soft on terrorism against Jews?” That’s a pertinent question. I mean what if al-Queda’s “political wing” opens up some soup kitchens in Yemen, does that mean they’re OK in Europe’s eyes or does that only apply to groups that kill Jews? Oh wait , Hamas has killed Americans as well. So maybe my first thought should have been, “The EU is soft on terrorist groups, especially groups that kill Jews.” Maybe this helps to explain that whole “unilateralist thing” that seems to upset the Europeans so much.