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)
