The author argues that the United States and Israel are both showing double standards by rejecting the democratic elections in the Palestinian territories that elected Hamas.
In January of 2006, Palestinians took to the voting booths and made their displeasure with Fatah, the former majority party in the Palestinian Authority, known. It was not a mandate from the heavens, but due to the electoral system set up in the Palestinian Territories with around 46% of the popular vote, Hamas won over half of the seats in parliament [1, 2]. This wasn’t due to vote rigging, nor was it due to threats from radical Islamic militants at the polls. A wide array of international organizations determined that the elections had been free and fair. It was due in large part to the ineptitude of Fatah. Many in the West Bank and Gaza had grown tired of the corruption within the party, as well as what was seen as their cooperation with occupation and being in bed with Israel. It wasn’t just Fatah’s faults that led to the defeat though. Hamas, while seen as less corrupt than Fatah, was also more focused on social needs of poorer Palestinians. Their more hands on approach to providing basic social needs to the largely impoverished population resonated well within many communities.
After its victory, Hamas published and stated its political goals very clearly. A far cry from the original Hamas Charter, they called for an end to corruption within the Palestinian government and more transparency, an end to Israeli occupation, negotiations with Israel for an independent Palestinian state to be established in the West Bank and Gaza and the right of return for the 1948 refugees and their descendants. [3.4]. On top of this, they let their hopes for a lasting cease fire with Israel be known countless times. They hoped such a truce could lead to talks on a two state settlement. However this clearly was not enough for Israel and the United States. Almost immediately funds (read: taxes collected for the PA by Israel) were illegally withheld from the PA and sanctions were put in place until Hamas recognized Israel and renounced violence outright. Of course no similar demands were made in relation to Israel, but to anyone who knows even the slightest about this situation; this should not come as a surprise. There was never a clear cut Israel to recognize. No borders for the state have ever been set, so what would Hamas be recognizing? Would it be recognizing Israel up to the ’48 borders set by the U.N.? The ’67 borders which are the general consensus for a two state solution? The ’67 borders plus the ever expanding settlements in the West Bank? This was never clarified and there are still calls, to this day, for Hamas to recognize the state of Israel.
What the sanctioning of the newly, and fairly, elected government in the territories entailed was as follows. Palestinian tax revenues in the hundreds of millions were withheld from the PA and the sanctions caused over 80% of the population in Gaza to rely on humanitarian aid for day to day food. At one point, Israel even cut off the flow of water to Gaza [5]. When there was still no acquiescence from the newly formed Palestinian government, and a national unity government was formed with the help of the Saudi’s, the United States and Israel allowed funds and arms to trickle through to Fatah, in hopes that they could remove Hamas from power with confrontation, or as some would call it, a civil war. This caused violence in Gaza to erupt. Scores of civilians were killed in the fighting, however Hamas was able to hold power in Gaza. The short lived unity government was disbanded and the head of the PA Mahmoud Abbas refused to enter into talks with Hamas at all.
So rather than work with the government that was freely elected in the Palestinian Territories, because the people voted the wrong way, the response was to collectively punish the entire population of Gaza from the results of the elections up until this very day. In the five years of this illegal punishment we have seen the massacre carried out by Israel in December 2008 (after it was Israel who broke the original cease fire to begin with), as well as the flotilla raid that resulted in the deaths of a nine activists from across the world who were simply trying to get aid to the starving people of Gaza [6]. The message that has been sent by the United States and Israel is quite clear; you can have free and fair elections, just make sure you elect people who have the same interests as us, or we’ll starve you until you get it right.
Hamas has not folded in the five years, but they are maneuvering politically to get out of their isolation. Having no other option, Hamas has embraced the use of the “Tunnel Trade.” While the tunnels by no means solve every issue plaguing Gazans, it does help keep them from living in complete misery. However it is impossible to smuggle a power plant or a school through a tunnel, and these are the most vital needs of the people of Gaza. This is just one of the interesting ways Hamas has learned to govern under the pressure of the Israeli blockade [7].
The severe mishandling of this situation has led to a great deal of civilian casualties both at the hands of the Israeli military and due to the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The sooner the United States and the rest of the world realize that Hamas is no longer the terrorist organization that simply wants to push Israel into the sea, and that to reach a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Hamas must be included in the talks, the sooner the conflict will end and a Palestinian state will emerge.
Works Cited
[2]Carter, Jimmy. “P 182.” Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print.
[5]Chomsky, Noam. “Guillotining Gaza.” Chomsky.info : The Noam Chomsky Website. 30 July 2007. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20070730.htm>.
[4]”Ei: Hamas’ Political Program.” Ei: The Electronic Intifada. Al Ayyam Newspaper, 17 Mar. 2006. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.<http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/historicaldocuments/428.shtml>.
[6]Finkelstein, Norman G. “This Time We Went Too Far”: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion. New York: OR, 2010. Print.
[1]Makdisi, Saree. “Coda, 3 P. 271.” Palestine inside Out: an Everyday Occupation. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. Print.
[3]Makdisi, Saree. “P 273.” Palestine inside Out: an Everyday Occupation. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. Print.
[7]Cambanis, Thanassis. “Letter From Gaza: Hamas the Opportunist | Foreign Affairs.” Home | Foreign Affairs. 18 June 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/features/letters-from/letter-from-gaza-hamas-the-opportunist>.
