In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Minnesota Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison calls upon Israel and Egypt to end their blockade of Gaza to achieve peace.

Ellison, the lone Muslim in Congress, says he has visited Gaza thrice since 2009 and “has not encountered anyone representing Hamas”. Given Hamas’ iron grip on Gaza I find this very hard to believe. Ellison acknowledges he has met with officials from the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA). This would be the same UNRWA that has twice been found with Hamas rockets in their schools and then turned over the weapons back to Hamas.

Ellison claims Gaza is deprived of food, fuel and medicine. This is nonsense. Not only does Israel supply Gaza with food, fuel and medicine it also supplies Gaza with cement. Cement used to build Hamas’ sophisticated network of tunnels.

Ending the blockade only rewards Hamas for its behavior and legitimizes its aims and objectives namely the destruction of Israel. Egypt, of course, has no love for Hamas given that it is the de facto Palestinian representative of the Muslim Brotherhood.

If the blockade of Gaza ended tomorrow it would make Gaza no more peaceable than it was when Israel withdrew from there nearly ten years ago.