Harassing Hamas
I’m really bothered by the world’s reaction to the recent elections in Palestine. I’m sure most know by now that the political movement Hamas, notorious for its confrontational and violent attitude toward Israel, won an overwhelming majority of the Palestinian Parliament.
The opposition, which has held power in Palestine for decades, as well as leaders of the European Union and our own George W. Bush, are having trouble accepting the election results. As soon as Hamas was elected, demands were made by world leaders that Hamas either renounce violence or risk losing foreign aid.
Several days after the election, Fatah activists and police stormed Parlaiment and occupied the building for twenty minutes, firing guns into the air. This is the peaceful party that the rest of the world is yearning to work with?
I think the rest of the world — particularly one country that aspires to remake the Middle East as a thriving democracy — needs to have more respect for the decisions of the Palestinian people. To outright refuse to work with this new government shows contempt for democracy.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who monitored the elections in Palestine, suggests that it may be possible to work with Hamas, and if not, that the United States should find other ways to give to the suffering Palestinian people:
“If there are prohibitions — like, for instance, in the United States, against giving any money to a government that is controlled by Hamas — then the United States could channel the same amount of money to the Palestinian people through the United Nations, through the refugee fund, through UNICEF, things of that kind,”
Or is it all an excuse to cut a little money going to brown people with no oil?