Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank near the Gaza Strip
AP
T
errorism works. That is the grim conclusion that the leadership of Hamas may yet draw from the recognition of an independent Palestinian state by Ireland, Norway and Spain this week. In a co- ordinated display of foolish, wrongheaded gesture politics, these European Union states have given succour to those who wish to absolve Israel’s attackers of any responsibility for their crimes. Their leaders claim they wish to facilitate a two-state solution to the conflict and bolster voices of moderation. In reality, alas, their performative politics will do nothing of the sort.
The heads of these governments now speak with the moral certitude and arrogance more often heard from the mouths of undergraduates, not statesmen. Jonas Gahr Store, the prime minister of Norway, declared that