This was frustrating to watch. I hope Hamas learns sooner than later that it will never succeed politically if it insists on promoting anything remotely Wahabbi in Gaza. I wish they would use the Hezbollah model of government: more social programs, less proselytizing. Clearly there won't be any Hezbollah-type military achievements since they're surrounded by Fatah, Jordan, Egypt and Israel on all sides. Anyway, I can't imagine that Hamas would retain its popularity if they got really out of hand with this whole virtue thing because giving unwanted sermons will get old very fast if they don't have something tangible to give to Gazans.
As for Fatah--
So I guess the frequency in which this fed into my google reader today means it's big news: Fateh woman manages to ‘escape’ from Hamas to participate in Bethlehem conference. But honestly, I don't care. It's surreal that this woman witnessed the barbarity of the last war and the slow starvation of her population yet went to such extremes to participate in a conference hosted by people that supported the killings and the siege. And when was the last time that Abbas or Fayyad spoke about the conditions of Gazans? I hear them speak about the settlements, which is great but when is the last time that anyone within any "key leadership" position in Fatah mentioned any of the dozens of issues affecting Gazans or demanded an end to draconian Israeli policies there?
I found the agenda for their conference and control F didn't find any mention of "Gaza." "siege," or "humanitarian catastrophes." Shame.
(P.S. The Fath Movement
"In my youth, the lousy Fath Movement was dubbed "the spinal cord" of the Palestinian Revolution. Today, it would be safe to describe the Fath Movement as "the spinal cord" of the Israeli occupation of Palestine." -Angry Arab)
I sympathize with Seham on her feelings about Fatah and how Abbas must have felt the agony of having to keep his mouth shut while Gaza burned. BUT, Abbas is in it for the long term and not a skirmish or two. He has brought a lot of support from Western countries to the Palestinians and although he is failing with Israel, I don’t think anyone can win with these people, specially not with B-Yahou at the helm.
Will Hamas ever be able to duplicate any Hizballah abilities, NO, never. Apart from their extremist Islamic views, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza didn’t even put up a fight when Israel bombed Gaza mercilessly. All they did was talk and threaten from the safety of their bunkers while the children died. If they wanted a fight they sure as heck didn’t show it. I still remember the rehtoric as to how the streets of Gaza will be turned to blood of the invaders, instead the blood was that of the children and mothers of Gaza .
Hamas lost any right to govern mainatin its hold on this tiny strip when it provoked Israel for the genocide that was committed. I would have rather read 5000 dead in Gaza, all Hamas militias, than the 300 that were caught behind the lines and the poor people who paid the price. If 5000 Hamas soldiers died in the fight, then Hamas can hold its head high and do whatever it wants for it would have earned it. As it is, history will show how ill prepared they were when they provoked a merciless enemy and let their innocent people get massacred. Hamas must go before any more innocent civilians die and let Fatah and their leadership who have learned, you need to sleep with your enemy and deal with the devil to get anywhere.
Their push now to a more radical Islam is nothing more than a cover to hide behind their continued failures. If what Phil wrote about the people of Gaza during his trip was accurate, the people will get rid of these guys and move towards a more open future and a more secular co existence.
I think we have to also look at this from another angle.
That angle is that their is a ideological war amongst the Islamist camps, that mainly pits the Ikhwan (Brotherhood) type Islamist groups against the Takfiri (Al-Qaeda) like Islamist groups.
A decent number of people that supported Hamas and continue to support Hamas are those that wanted to see what they considered to be more “Islamic” stuff in their society. If Hamas does not cater to these people it could lose a critical part of its support to Takfiri based groups who are already openly challenging Hamas authority in the Gaza strip based on the simple assertion that the Hamas authorities have not implemented Sharia law in the coastal sliver.
This is on the fact that we are noticing Hamas using more nationalistic language, toning down its rhetoric against Israel, and being more responsive to the opinions of the international community. I think we are merely seeing a balancing act played out by the Hamas authorities in an attempt to appease its religious base support, while trying to appeal to all other Palestinians in the occupied territories, refugee camps, and in the greater Palestinian diaspora.