My last night in Jordan, I met a group of three twenty-something Palestinian yutes at the Jafra Cafe. We did the small talk routine, and then I started asking the Arab-Israeli conflict questions. Standard fare, until the ringleader tossed one at me:
If you had to chose between Fatah and Hamas, which would you pick?
As the ignorant outsider who has no experience with on-the-street opinion on these matters, I said Fatah, out of some bleeding-heart pacifist motivation (but knowing full well violence runs deep, at some point in history or another, on both sides). I was met with three strong affirmations of support for Hamas, though sans hostility; obviously I asked why. Reason being, Hamas is willing to stand up against Israel and abides by the Islamic principle of jihad. Normally when the j-word comes up, the quick explanation is that it's NOT JUST holy war, but is simply the word for struggle and means, as much as anything, personal combat against the lusts and passions of the flesh ("battling temptation" I suppose). Not this evening though; this was your Fox News, Zarqahwi in Tora Bora-fledged Jeeeeee-hawd. And linked to explicitly religious claims, theological/theoretical and not territorial. It wasn't "Islam tells us that Palestine belongs to Muslims so go and kill the infidel," but "Islam tells us to wage war in the cause of justice so go and fight the invader," or something similar. They added that, had Fatah won the 2006 legislative elections (read this), they would at least obey the elected leaders. But Hamas won in a genuine, democratic election where "the outcome should be considered to reflect the will of the people" ("Final Report on the Palestinian Legislative Council Elections," National Democratic Institute / The Carter Center). Which, in America's support for worlwide democracy, garnered the elected, Hamas-controlled government some sense of legitimacy, or at least right to represent the Palestinian people, no?
From the moment of its election victory, Hamas acted pragmatically and with the intent to integrate itself into the existing political structure. It had observed for over a year a unilateral ceasefire with Israel and had halted the suicide attacks on Israeli civilians that had made it notorious. In a leaked confidential memo written in May and published by The Guardian this week senior UN envoy Alvaro de Soto confirmed that it was under pressure from the United States that Abbas refused Hamas' initial invitation to form a "national unity government." De Soto details that Abbas advisers actively aided and abetted the Israeli-US-European Union aid cutoff and siege of the Palestinians under occupation, which led to massively increased poverty for millions of people. These advisors engaged with the United States in a "plot" to "bring about the untimely demise of the [Palestinian Authority] government led by Hamas," de Soto wrote (ei, June 2007)
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Later that evening, I met up with the Palestinian Women's Club. Tutu (who lived in Gaza for five years) again referred to the Strip as "hell on earth" and "a prison." The PWC also gave me hand-woven tissue holder and a rose-red plaque of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Most excellent.
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