From the opinion desk of the Spartan Daily

I will be writing a response to this poorly argued editorial. Look for it on Wed. March 8 in the Spartan Daily.

Israel's measures on Hamas government are destructive - Opinion

Israel's measures on Hamas government are destructive
The Shape of What's to Come
By Banks Albach
Date: 2/22/06 Section: Opinion

Rather than driving toward a brighter horizon after a new Hamas-led Palestinian legislature was sworn in with 73 of 132 seats on Saturday, Israel seems poised to drive the prospect of peace in the region off a cliff rather than down the "Road Map to Peace."

Maybe that's Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's intention - his government's plan to sanction the Palestinians can hardly be viewed as constructive. It will not force Hamas to abandon its charter and accept Israel's right to exist. Nor will it buttonhole the extremists in Hamas to give up their guns or the use of suicide terrorism against Israeli citizens.

Nevertheless, Israel is halting about $50 million per month in tax transfers to the new Palestinian Authority; it will tighten border crossings between Gaza and the West Bank, claiming that the heightened measures will be directed at Hamas affiliates only; and the Israeli government plans to lobby the international community into halting funds to the Palestinian Authority.

On Saturday, Israel launched a military campaign in the Palestinian city of Nablus and the Balata refugee camp. As of Tuesday night, three Palestinians had been killed and 30 injured, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

To top it off, Israel wouldn't allow Hamas politicians from Gaza to travel to the West Bank for the swearing in of the new government. Instead, the Palestinians used a video conferencing system that broke down repeatedly.

Granted, Hamas must renounce violence and accept Israel's existence if it plans to embrace peace. Punishing the Palestinians, however, after their first successful election in a decade is beyond counterproductive - it's masochism on the part of Israel.

Yes, the terrorist wing of Hamas has murdered innocent Israelis, but Hamas has abided by the current ceasefire with Israel, which both sides agreed on more than a year ago. And the Palestinians did not elect Hamas because of the blood that its suicide bombers have shed in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. They swept the group to power because Hamas fills a massive gap in the Palestinian Territories, providing the medical care and other social services that the inept and corrupt Fatah party has missed throughout the years.

The appointment of Ismail Haniyeh, supposedly a Hamas pragmatist, to be prime minister is also a hopeful sign. But his first few months will be difficult. Besides trying to build a consensus with the Fatah party, which still holds 43 of 132 seats in the legislature, Haniyeh faces a $110 million budget shortfall without the tax transfers from Israel.

This means that thousands of Palestinian civil service and security employees will be broke. According to a Sunday piece in the New York Times, many members of the Palestinian security services have already staged demonstrations demanding their pay, revealing that Israel's decision is destabilizing the process.

That's why it's masochistic. Wouldn't Olmert and his Likud government prefer to deal with Palestinians who have cash in their pockets? Wouldn't Olmert prefer to deal with a Palestinian Authority that can maintain some sort of functioning infrastructure, rather than one without workers?

With Ariel Sharon on his deathbed, it's useless to ponder how the hawk-turned-pragmatist would have dealt with a Hamas-led Palestine. But some of his recent decisions - pulling out of Gaza and restoring travel between there and Egypt through the Rafah border - prove that Sharon was willing to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. In a nutshell, the situation was taking a turn for the better.

And it could turn back, though this requires Israel and Hamas to make painful departures from policies that are not only self-harming, but are the fuels that fire the cycle of violence that consumes them.

This can only be done through mutual incrementalism, or piece-by-piece trade-offs from both sides. It's fair to say that Hamas has taken a step by sticking to the current ceasefire framework. Likewise, the Gaza pullout was a step. So was opening up its border.

Hopefully Israelis will vote in the March 28 elections for Sharon's new centrist party, Kadima, or "Forward," instead of reinstating a Likud government led by the extreme hawk, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Most importantly, though, Israel politicians must stand up to the settler community and continue to dismantle their projects in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Olmert should reinstate the tax-transfer, just to ease tensions for Israel, not to mention the Palestinians. Hinging its entire Palestinian policy on Hamas recognizing the right of Israel to exist is admirable, but it's foolish, and more symbolic than anything.

Taking this statement out of Hamas's charter will not stop the violence. For this to happen, both sides need to renounce violence. This means a ceasefire that includes air strikes and suicide bombings. The charter amendments can come later.

The new Palestinian Authority would be wise to divide its government according to expertise: Fatah should handle diplomacy and Hamas should concentrate on infrastructure, education and health. Incorporating Hamas's military wing into the Palestinian security forces might curb their extremist tendencies as well.

Many on the right and left have already taken sides. Some of you reading this probably have too. This is as much of a trap as the one that the Palestinians and Israelis find themselves in now.

It may seem hard to swallow, and you don't have to like it, but there is no right and wrong side in this conflict - there are only extremists and pragmatists. The road to peace only has room for the latter.

Banks Albach is a Spartan Daily co-opinion editor. "The Shape of What's to Come" appears every Wednesday.