Yasser Arafat used to call himself and the PA the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Since the election in January, Hamas—a terrorist organization, deemed as such by Israel, the U.S., and the EU, among others— has claimed that title for itself.

Now, Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas’s “politburo,” lives in Damascus, Syria, where he is protected by Assad the Oculist. There is reason to believe that just as Fatah and another branch of Hamas were close to coming to terms about how to move the Palestinian people forward toward governing themselves, Mashaal ordered the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier that became the casus belli for the current war:

Now Mashaal declares that fighting is the natural state and greatest desire of the Palestinian people.

According to Mashaal, “the Palestinans executed a heroic operation by capturing that soldier, even though the world’s response in support of Israel is not proportional to the extent of the operation. Today, the Palestinian people are united regarding this operation in a way that they had not been in the past. The operation was one of bravery for the nation. We are proud of this operation and send our condolences to the shahids and their families.”

“We do not claim that the tunnels, Qassam launchings and similar efforts will bring us to a balance of power Israel, given the enormous Israeli arsenal. But it is an expression of our aspirations. In essence, the Palestinian people are saying: I fight, therefore I am,” he added.

On June 29, Spiegel published an interview with Hamas’s #2 man in Syria, Abu Marzook, in which he laid out Hamas’s strategy of never-ending war against Israel. It is not important for Hamas to govern, Marzook claimed; Hamas’s mandate is resistance. And “no matter what,” he said, “the violence against Israel will never stop”:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Now Hamas is no longer only a terrorist group or a resistance group, but also a governing party. Do you think — given all the chaos since the election success — that Hamas has carried out this transformation successfully?

Abu Marzook: Our task was not to change. The Palestinian people live under occupation, so we are still a resistance movement. The people elected us because they did not get the feeling that all the negotiations by Fatah had brought them closer to having their own state. We respect their choice, but we did not seek to be in the government.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: But now that Hamas is in the government: Should it not handle its conflicts with negotiations rather than attacks?

Abu Marzook: Of course. On the other hand, we are not a government like any other independent state. We are a government under occupation. And the task of such a government is to carry out resistance, in every possible way. I think that every single Palestinian should resist, and should keep it up until there is an independent Palestinian state.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: In other words, not even the current military attacks by Israel will lead Hamas to change its strategy?

Abu Marzook: No. I think that our strategy is a promising one, and that it will eventually bring the Palestinians to a point where they can build their own state.

Apparently, the heavies of Damascus have a lot of support among the Palestinians. According to a poll conducted within the last week,

A large majority of Palestinians support the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was nabbed in a June cross-border raid, according to a poll released Sunday.

The survey by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center showed 77 percent of those questioned support the kidnapping of Shalit, while 67 percent said they support further abductions in the current political climate.

There is only one problem with this scenario. Committing acts of war invites your enemy to commit acts of war in return. When you pick on someone bigger than you, you risk getting squashed. It’s a risk you take. And a risk you have to live with.

The Western world has shrugged at Israel’s “disproportionate” response to the new conflagration: Not our problem! Tony Blair dumped it in Bush’s lap.

“I’ve learned enough about this situation over the years that going in and condemning either side is not deeply helpful,” he said.

Looking at the wider quest for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Blair said the international community must play a part.

“This will not be resolved, in my view, unless from the outside the international community and particular the US grip the situation. This cannot be resolved simply by the two sides,” Blair said.

Bush in turn dumped it on Condi’s lap. On July 6, long after the fighting had gotten bloody,

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday praised the diplomatic efforts of Turkey with Syria’s government to ease accelerating tensions between Israel and the Palestinians sparked by the abduction of an Israel Defense Forces soldier and rocket fire on southern Israel.

They have left the people of the Middle East to sort this problem out for themselves. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing, because it puts this issue in its place. The conflict is not a global one but a local one.

There’s a lot more to the story, of course. I’ll come back to it.