Let Gaza live - Haaretz - Israel News
"Here is a success story: Israel and the West imposed a boycott on the Palestinian Authority with the aim of weakening Hamas, and a year and a half later this brilliant policy has yielded its fruits: Hamas has become stronger. If there is a lesson from the fiasco in Gaza, here it is: Starving, drying up and blocking aid do not sear the consciousness and do not weaken political movements. On the contrary."
2 comments:
You assessment does not seem to square with many facts. Most Palestinians have been shocked by what they Regard as the Hamas Coup in Gaza. If an election were held today, 12% of Palestinians would vote for Hamas. Iranian money buys guns and training for Hamas fighters, but not love or respect. Many people in Gaza would prefer an Israeli reoocupation to rule by Hamas terrorist, and terrorist is a word increasingly heard among Palestinians used to describe Hamas.
Were it only so. Please cite the sources for your data. I respect data.
Neither my own interviews in Jerusalem earlier this month, nor recent polling corroborates your claims. Instead, the data shows even that after the chaos of recent weeks in Gaza, Hamas would still win significant support in elections. I will post some of the polling data later when I have time.
For background see the work of Khalil Shikaki, the most respected Palestinian pollster, for instance his recent pub. from Brandeis University Crown Center: http://www.brandeis.edu/centers/crown/publications/Scholars/Khalil%20Shikaki.html
Shikaki shows that in early 2006, a year after the election Hamas would still win elections, even though there was disappointment in its performance.
You are understating the dislike for Fatah, and it trademark corruption and misbehavior.
Iran is another issue. Most direct Iranian support has gone to Islamic Jihad. Most of Hamas weapons have been smuggled in from Egypt, or more recently, captured from Fatah elements.
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