Hamas & the future of Israeli-Palestinian Relations
Jan 26, 2006
My friend and former Intern, Gavin just wrote me this email:
The extended cease-fire from last year may be lost. Unless they feel the pressure from our government to clean up or we won’t deal with them. This which has already been stated by Bush in my mind is one of the few positives. But with men behind bars who are massively intelligent terrorists, coupled with deep hate still having much influence in a now voted on government, I wait with curiosity and hope that the peace process will not be abandoned.
What’s your take?
Here it is (for now):
I was just constructing the outline for a blog on this issue... my quick response - I don't believe Hamas will change for the worse... if anything this is the best outcome we could hope for. Hamas will have to show results, now that they are the ruling authority in the PA. Their marching cry & rise to power came from first blaming Israel for the Palestinian's problems, and then blaming Fatah for their problems (both are well-justified claims). I believe that most Palestinians appreciate that armed struggle is not the way to stabilize their situation... but their leaders haven't given them other options.
Hamas' leaders aren't stupid. They engineered this rise to power over many years. Hell, look at how they stuck to the cease-fire... if they were crazy, disorganized bandits, they wouldn't have been able to do that. Furthermore, they didn't take over with a coup d'etat - they used the democratic process. Personally I'm impressed.
Now they've attained the control they sought - and have the power to live up to their claim that they will make life better for Palestinians... While living peacfully with Israel wasn't in their plans, I'm confident that Hamas leaders acknowledge that pushing the Jews into the sea isn't possible. But pushing them out of the West Bank is... and now that they have political control, pushing will require a lot less blood - something neither side want's to spill. I'm confident that Hamas understands that if they don't make life better for Palestinians, they won't remain in control for long. And as long as there's violence, the problems for the Palestinians will only get worse. Hamas has no option but to start real negotiations. They can't improve the lives of Palestinians without working with Israel.
At this point I'm more concerned with how Israel will respond... I'm concerned that Israel will work to tear apart & embarras Hamas - the first organization that has real control of and respect from the people - as opposed to using international influence to help Hamas become less militant, while not loosing face amongst their people.
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