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Who is impeding ceasefire in Gaza?

The Palestinian government in Gaza has recently given many indications of its willingness to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

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The Palestinian government in Gaza has recently given many indications of its willingness to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
This writer has received first-hand information from some Gaza officials,  expressing genuine  readiness to reach a dignified and equitable ceasefire agreement that would put an end to the callous  Israeli blockade of Gaza and the daily killing of Palestinians there  in exchange for a stoppage of all rocket-firing  on nearby Jewish settlements.
In recent days, some Israeli officials close to the Defense Ministry asked some rabbis,  who purportedly hold relatively moderate views regarding Hamas, to look into the possibility of a ceasefire agreement with the Islamic group,  which might also include a possible prisoner swap between the two sides.
However, as Hamas displayed good will and willingness to stop the violence and bloodshed, the Israeli government was, as always, displaying expressions of insolence, bellicosity and arrogance of power.
Prime Minister Olmert, a deceitful and mendacious politician lacking any ethical credentials, was quoted by the Israeli media as saying that Israel wouldn’t talk with  Hamas unless the latter recognized Israel and accepted the Quartet demands,  (abandoning resistance and accepting outstanding agreements between Israel and the PLO).
Another Israeli leader, Eli Yeshai of the Shas fundamentalist party, tried to be smarter, saying that Israel would only discuss with Hamas the release of an Israeli occupation soldier taken prisoner by Palestinian fighters nearly 18 months ago.
Similarly, the hawkish Defense Minister Ehud Barak dismissed ceasefire suggestions, saying that the Israeli occupation  army was making “progress” against Hamas.
Well, Olmert  and his ministers can go to hell because Hamas will never ever recognize Israel’s “moral”  legitimacy, since Israel has none  as far as the Palestinians and hundreds of millions of free-thinking  men and women  around the world  are concerned.
Indeed, how could a state that was based and continues to be based on oppression, racism, ethnic cleansing and genocide claim to have moral legitimacy?
Israel  does exist and has political legitimacy and is recognized by the bulk of the international community. But this doesn’t mean that it has moral legitimacy? Indeed, what gives the Zionist state, of all other nation-states in this world, a special moral  right to exist, other than the fact that it exists? Well, Nazi Germany also existed and was very powerful in its days, but that didn’t mean that it possessed any moral legitimacy.
Moreover,  demanding that Hamas recognize Israel’s “ moral” legitimacy is tantamount to asking Palestinians to adopt the Zionist narrative, in which case  Palestinians would effectively become  de facto Zionists, all  for the sake of having  the “honor”  of sitting down  in the  presence  of  Olmert or Rice or Bush, people who represent and embody  the moral decadence of our time.
This is not to say that Hamas is blind and  doesn’t recognize Israel’s  physical existence. Israel does exist as a geopolitical reality; it is a powerful state with hundreds of nuclear warheads and bombs at its disposal. Israel also controls powerful governments, such as the government of the United States, and to a lesser extent  most European governments and leaders.
But so what? This state came into being through oppression, violent colonialism, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Israel’s birth was an act of rape, it continues to be an act of rape, and will always be an act of rape. Needless to say, an act of rape can’t be morally legitimate with the passage time.
Of course, I am speaking about Zionism, not Jews. Jews who believe in justice and human equality are our partners in the quest for a just and durable peace in this tormented land. As Palestinians, our problem is not with Jews, it is with those who insist that non-Jews are children of a lesser God and therefore have lesser human rights.
Disgusting opportunism
Unfortunately, Hamas’s efforts to save Palestinian blood through reaching a prospective  dignified ceasefire are being utilized as “propaganda fuel” by the American-backed regime in Ramallah. These are the same people who collaborate with the Israeli occupation army against their own people in the West Bank through the so-called “security coordination.”
The cheapness  of character of these quislings, who eat with American dollars, breathe with American dollars and practice their  treachery and treason with American dollars,  has reached unprecedented levels  that they continue to have business as usual with their enemies even when the latter murder their colleagues as happened last week in Bethlehem.
Hence, Hamas should not pay attention to these voices of hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy, and should instead do what is in the best interests of the Palestinian people, especially the tormented people of Gaza.
There is no doubt that the Palestinian people have an absolute and inalienable right to resist the Israeli occupation and repulse Israeli criminality as much as possible. However, while the resistance is always right, some tactics can be wrong and self-defeating.
After all, the Palestinians are not resisting for the sake of resistance. Resistance is not a religion or an ideology. Resistance is a tactic, a means to and end, not an end in itself.
In light, it is highly recommended that genuine efforts be made to reach a dignified ceasefire with Israel that would save the blood of our children and our fighters and our civilians.
If the enemy continues to say “No” and keeps up the daily slaughter, then the resistance can be resumed anytime of our choosing.
And then we would be occupying even a higher moral ground and Israel would be further exposed as the villain.