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A rchive Date
[ 04-02-2006 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Palestine ]
      [http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2006/02/03/1425239.html

      Democracy left bad taste
      But West would be hypocritical not to deal with Hamas
      By Michael Coren
      Sat, February 4, 2006

      It has been more than a week since Hamas won its startling victory in the Palestinian elections, and most alleged experts in the West still fail to appreciate the full implications of the phenomenon.

      With 76 seats out of a possible 132, Hamas gained more than 60% of the vote. Yet with most Palestinian Christian, secular and leftist support going elsewhere, this means Hamas enjoyed more than 80% popularity among serious Muslims, and the majority of these are certainly not fundamentalists.

      But then, religion is not the central issue, in spite of what some critics of this election would have you believe. Hamas won because it has an almost iconic stature in the occupied territories. It kills, it dies, it will not be silenced and it appears to terrify Israel and its allies.

      The Arabic word Hamas means zeal but it is also an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement. Its military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, is responsible for most of the suicide bombs inside Israel. Hamas itself, however, also builds schools and hospitals in the territories and provides a welfare network and social services infrastructure. Unlike Fatah, it is generally free of corruption.

      Just like the Tamil Tigers, the IRA and various loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, Hamas is defined by outsiders through its frequently grotesque acts of violence, but within its own community is beloved - sometimes by those who shudder at violent resistance.

      So if Israel and the West really want to lose the struggle for the hearts and minds of the Arab people, they should continue to refuse to deal with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas and thus guarantee that in the next election the group will do even better.

      Foolishness is bad enough but hypocrisy is even worse. Many of the terrorist attacks of the past five years, including suicide bombings, have come not from Hamas but from groups directly affiliated with Fatah. Yet nobody has suggested that this organization is unacceptable.

      Hamas has been demonized as the great obstacle to peace because it believes in terrorism and calls for the elimination of Israel. But, again, this can also be said of Fatah. Remember, the PLO called for the total destruction of Israel for 40 years (and some claim it still does) but is now considered part of the peace process.

      Then comes the very notion of democracy itself. The United States leads the charge in demanding that Palestine become democratic. The election takes place, with a turnout higher, percentage-wise, than in Canada and most western countries refusing to deal with Hamas. There are two main alternatives at the ballot box, and the one favoured by the West loses badly. The reaction? You made the wrong choice and, for Palestinians at least, democracy is suddenly wrong.

      It makes the western world look overwhelmingly dishonest and plays into the hands of the Hamas leadership. A leadership that is aware that Israeli intelligence encouraged the progress of Hamas just a few years ago in an attempt to undermine Yasser Arafat.

      They are also aware that the Likud governments of Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir were condemned even by many in Israel as being founded on principles of terrorism. Begin led the Irgun group and Shamir was one of three men in control of the Stern Gang. The latter, in particular, was responsible for widespread bombings and shootings of innocent people.

      This is a watershed moment in the history of the Middle East. Between Arab rhetoric and western inconsistency, there just might be a path forward. Stop shouting and start listening, and, to quote Teddy Roosevelt, always carry a big stick.

      You can e-mail Michael Coren through his website, http://www.michaelcoren.com
      Have a letter for the editor? E-mail it to editor@tor.sunpub.com

      Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved


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