HUDNA-WINKED

Israel’s adversaries have not agreed to any cease-fire such as the binding armistice which halted World War I on the November 11, 1918, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh year.

Instead, Israel’s adversaries have only agreed to a “Hudna” , a “respite in war” between Islamic & non-Islamic forces.
The authoritative Islamic Encyclopedia (London, 1922) defines “hudna” as a “temporary treaty” which can be approved or abrogated by Islamic religious leaders, depending on whether or not it serves the interests of Islam, and that a “hudna” cannot last for more than ten years.

The Islamic Encyclopedia mentions the Hudaybia treaty as the ultimate “hudna.”.

In the words of the Islamic encyclopedia, “The Hudaybia treaty, concluded by the Prophet Muhammed with the unbelievers of Mecca in 628, provided a precedent for subsequent treaties which the Prophet’s successors made with non-Muslims. Muhammed made a hudna with a tribe of Jews back then to give him time to grow his forces, then broke the treaty and wiped them out. Although this treaty was violated within three years from the time that it was concluded, most jurists concur that the maximum period of peace with the enemy should not exceed ten years since it was originally agreed that the Hudaybia treaty should last ten years.”

Arafat consistently referred to the Oslo Process as a “hudna” in the spirit of the Hudaybia treaty, as did the Hamas spokespeople in each of the hudnas that it agreed to in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

So if you follow media coverage of the Middle East, ask each media outlet to report about a hudna, instead of raising hopes of a cease-fire.