This is an interesting take on the present atmosphere for Palestinians in Gaza.
Bryan --------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/04/AR2006020400226.html?sub=AR
You Get What You Vote For. What Does Hamas Get Us?
By Abdallah Alsalmi Sunday, February 5, 2006; B02
Abdallah Alsalmi is a public relations officer with the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, a nongovernmental organization in Gaza City.
GAZA CITY
Here in Gaza, we are holding our breath, waiting to see what the unprecedented victory of Hamas in our legislative elections will mean for us. The territory is quiet. Even the militants have taken a break from launching rockets or occupying government buildings.
Ironically, the subdued atmosphere is a clear sign of the violent turmoil inside each and every Palestinian. But this unease is not focused on what attacks or retaliations might occur between Hamas and its avowed enemy, Israel. Instead, what I hear my neighbors and colleagues discussing is: How will Hamas govern without the support of international donors? Will I receive next month's paycheck?
It is easy to be cynical about these questions. After all, the Palestinians who voted for Hamas -- which remains dedicated to the destruction of Israel -- are collectively the same people who have told pollsters that, like the majority of Israelis, they want to end the Middle East conflict peacefully on the basis of a two-state solution.
So why did so many throw their support behind Hamas? In recent days I have asked this question of many friends and colleagues, and most of their answers had nothing to do with Israel.
Most common was the idea voiced by a woman named Ghada Rabee: "I elected Hamas to get back at the corrupt Palestinian Authority."
Educated as an English teacher, Rabee did not have the right connections to secure a job in the Palestinian Authority's school system, and all she has been able to find is volunteer work as a translator in my office. "The corrupt Fatah government did not give us good services or proper employment," Rabee says bitterly.
Rabee also expressed a sentiment I have heard, in different words, from many people: "I feel I belong to them" -- to Hamas -- "because they are as ordinary as we are." In contrast to the entrenched bureaucrats of Fatah, most Hamas candidates were teachers, civil servants and physicians.
A different point was made by Maysa Ahmed, 30, who has one son and works as a secretary in an educational institute. "The crime rate is skyrocketing," she said, referring to robberies and shootings. "It's unacceptable and it shows that the Fatah government was not able, or not willing, to impose law and order; obviously we had to seek a change."
Almost no one I speak with talks about Hamas's victory in terms of Israel.
Nevertheless, it is difficult not to think that Israel, with or without realizing it, helped Hamas win the election -- by undermining the existing government. A Palestinian police station I often walk past in Gaza City, partially destroyed by Israeli bombs, illustrates one part of my point: For a long time, Israeli forces responded to attacks by any Palestinian group -- Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah -- by striking institutions of the Palestinian Authority. This made it even harder for the PA to deliver the security, public utilities and other services that the populations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank expected.
I discussed this with Mohammed Attiya, 34, an official with the Palestinian General Control Council, which manages budgetary affairs for the Palestinian Authority. Auditing the accounts of the agency I work for, he leafed through a big folder of papers. Attiya is a lifelong supporter of Fatah, and his party's stunning defeat was reflected in his sad face and unusually subdued speech.
"Even during the Israeli disengagement [from Gaza], Israel deliberately acted on its own, as if the PA did not exist," he said. "For ordinary Palestinians, this was another indicator of the government's absence from public life; this eroded the PA's dignity. And Hamas succeeded in getting the public to believe the Israeli pullout from Gaza was only a result of five years of struggle."
For a few days after the elections, Gaza seemed to be under a spell of hopeful serenity. However, the festivities and celebrations soon came to an end, and reality resurfaced. Fatah's path of negotiations and peace with the Israelis had not yielded any encouraging -- or at least sustainable -- results. In terms of security, jobs and food, the Palestinian territories seem far worse off than they had been when the PA was created 12 years ago.
And now, with Hamas taking power, we feel new pressures. Israel has not reopened some border crossings that should have been closed only for the Islamic new year's holiday, and it is already evident that some supplies in shops are not being restocked. As Hamas seeks to find legislative allies and form a government, we do not know to what extent the international aid that sustains the impoverished territories will be cut off. I am sure we are embarking on a tough and possibly explosive period.
Not everyone feels this way. Consider the hopeful remarks of my boss, Saeed Hassan. "All these doomsday scenarios are circulated by those [Fatah supporters] who still feel the bitterness of loss," he said. "If Palestinians join hands, they can make it through this extremely difficult period of our history." He advised that "Hamas should take action, any action that would show the people and the world that Palestine is still okay, regardless of who's in the parliament."
Akram Habeeb, 50, who teaches American literature at Gaza's Islamic University, was just as optimistic. "Hamas possesses the potential to establish itself as the Palestinians' most reliable political party" in the world's eyes, he said. "Hamas has a clear vision for a stable and corruption-free Palestine. "
I acknowledged that he had a point: Hamas won most of the municipal elections that were held here six months ago and has established a successful record at running things at that level. "The municipalities are such an example of how Hamas can convert a dilapidated community service organization into a transparent and effective local government," Habeeb said. He noted that the international agencies that now threaten to withhold funds from a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority did not cut off aid to local governments run by Hamas.
Habeeb was adamant in his belief that Hamas would not allow international donors to "blackmail" the Palestinian people. "Palestine's land has been occupied for long and we have nothing but dignity, so we won't sell our land for the donors' funds." If donors continue to insist that Hamas change its position on Israel, he said, the new Palestinian government would have to "find alternatives" -- presumably among wealthy Arab nations. Experience has given us little reason to expect that will happen, but Habeeb insisted: "Increasing local, regional and even international investments in Palestine will certainly have a strong boosting effect on the ailing economy, especially when Hamas duplicates what it did in the municipalities.
"Certainly some groups at the end of the day will try to sabotage Hamas's efforts but they will fail because most Palestinians have already said the word: Hamas is our legitimate and democratically elected representative."
Ten days ago, we Palestinians watched as streets awash in the sunshine-yellow banners of Fatah suddenly turned to the fertile green that is the symbol of Hamas. Today, we wait in limbo, flooded by uncertainty. My normally generous father recently turned down a friend's request to borrow some money: "We have to wait and see if we'll have any salaries at all in the coming months." Early this week, the electricity went out for a few hours -- and suddenly we were aware of how easily Hamas could fail to live up to its plans and commitments.
The other day, militants were demonstrating outside the European Union office in Gaza City. This time, the protest was over the publication of anti-Islamist cartoons in a number of European newspapers. Amid the usual gunfire and yelling, I saw a small child with signs of poor diet evident on his shrunken cheeks. He hurried by, terrified by the scene. I watched him run away, thinking about what future awaits him, and how much worse it will be if Hamas fails.
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