Israel is the occupier, Israel which was created through ethnic cleansing and is a segregated Apartheid state keeping up an illegal occupation for 47 years. Israel, which has put 560 000 illegal settlers on occupied land in violation of international law; Israel which has killed over 9300 Palestinians and almost 1500 Lebanese during this century. Hamas is the symptom, just like all resistance movements are and the occupation and the ethnic cleansing, the original sin of Zionism in 1947-1948, are the causes and until the causes are dealt with the symptoms are not going away.