Taking the Edge Off

Instead of ridding themselves of the Hamas terrorists who have caused nothing but pain, misery, death, and economic destruction, Palestinians continue to engage in self-destructive habits.

The latest?

They're taking painkillers to numb themselves to the reality of their own creation.

Ruled by Islamic hard-liners from Hamas and locked in by Israel, Gazans can't travel outside the strip, have few places to go for fun, and are faced with a failing economy. Thus the boom in the popularity of tramadol, a painkiller known here by a common brand name, "Tramal."

Growing numbers of Gazans have begun using the drug over the past year and a half to take the edge off life in the impoverished seaside strip, pharmacists and residents say.

This worries medical personnel, who say the drug can cause dependence. It is a prescription drug in many countries, and the Hamas-run Health Ministry has made efforts to control it, but without much success in a society where medicines available only by prescription elsewhere are often sold over the counter.

Tramadol is especially popular among young men. Some down the pills with coffee or dissolve them in tea. Others pop them freely when hanging out with friends. Grooms have been seen passing them out at weddings.

"You feel calmness through your whole body, absolute quiet," said one regular user, 27-year-old Bassem, in describing the drug's effect. He, like others interviewed by The Associated Press for this story, refused to give his last name for fear of being arrested as a drug user.

They voted for Hamas to control their political futures, and Hamas wanted nothing less than an all out war against Israel; a war that it could not possibly win on a conventional battlefield, but one that they hoped to win by grinding out a victory one propaganda moment after another - for years on end. They hoped that they'd be able to pressure Israel into making concessions after concessions, all while carrying out kassam and mortar attacks (in a hudna no less).

Hamas has no interest in controlling the painkillers, since it reduces resistance to their ongoing destructive policies. If Hamas truly wanted to eliminate the sales of these drugs or restrict their use, it is within their power to do so.

It should surprise no one that Hamas is busy issuing conflicting statements on their war with Israel and whether they'll continue the hudna or resume open warfare; which in reality is the same thing since the hudna has been over for weeks as the terrorists have fired wave after wave of mortars and kassams into Israel.

It should also come as no surprise that the Palestinians seek nothing less than to be rid of all Jewish presence in areas under their control, or areas that they hope to make part of their Palestinian state. They seek nothing less than the destruction of Israel, and all traces of Jewish connections with the land.

And yet, this is who Israel is supposed to make peace with?