Israel Matzav

Only the Economist

Only the Economist could make Hamas and its rule over Gaza sound civil.

OVERCOMING five years of punishing siege, bombardment and war should be a cause for celebration. But Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules the coastal enclave of Gaza, was not cheering the anniversary of its military takeover on June 14th. Its initial pride at imposing internal security, constructing an effective administration and rebuilding Gaza by burrowing tunnels into Egypt is turning to embarrassment. Hamas officials have grown fat on the proceeds. The movement seems increasingly confused and evasive about its political direction.

In recent months Hamas has dithered and bickered about whether it should seek reconciliation with Fatah, the secular-minded party that runs the bigger bit of the would-be Palestinian state on the West Bank, or preserve its near-monopoly on power in the isolated Gaza Strip. The people of Gaza, meanwhile, have come to see Hamas as putting factional interests ahead of national ones. “Curse you men of moustaches and beards,” wrote Hassan Salama, a Hamas militant, from his Israeli cell in a widely circulated letter, lambasting the leaders of both Fatah and Hamas for splitting Palestine into two self-serving autocracies.

When Hamas won Palestine’s most recent general election, in 2006, it promised to replace Fatah’s venal patronage system and unexplained wealth with democracy and equality. To some the movement now looks just as compromised as Fatah once did. Despite several attempts to overthrow it, both by Israel and Fatah, Hamas has tightened its grip on Gaza. Its internal security forces have more or less quashed feuding clans, silenced guns, and opened up the beaches for families. It enforces a tax regime that is even more stringent than Fatah’s on the West Bank.

Using tunnels to transport building materials, Hamas has begun to regenerate Gaza, transforming security bases into schools, turning training grounds into public parks, and levelling the Saraya, the Gaza City fortress from which the enclave’s past rulers had governed, instead erecting a commercial complex. A host of new tourist resorts line the beach front. A corniche is being built which, say hopeful officials, will rival Tel Aviv’s. Anxious to stop Israel from ruining the show, Hamas guards prevent Palestinian militants and demonstrators from coming close to the border with Israel to avoid confrontation with—and retaliation by—the watchful opponents.

Continue reading here. If only Gaza were as enticing as they make it sound (although, if you read the article, you will see that it is definitely not impoverished).

Labels: Gaza, Hamas, The Economist

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:26 PM