[lbo-talk] Hamas

[Jim Devine]

over at the "Max Speak, You Listen!" blog,  Barkley Rosser writes:
>... at least three factors suggest themselves as playing a role here
in Hamas's win, even if this poll is correct. 1) Fatah and PLO have
been very corrupt, while local governments run by Hamas have the
reputation of not being so; 2) the Israelis once helped Hamas as an
offset to the then dominant PLO, and 3) reaction against reports that
the US was funding projects that would supposedly make Fatah "look
good."<

In addition, it's important to remember who's ruling Israel these
days: Sharon-type Zionist maximalists who make the point of stomping
on -- or thumbing their noses at  -- the totally Palestinian Authority
and Fatah whenever they get a chance. (Think about the gratuitous
destruction of PA computers and the like when the IDF invaded
Palestinian lands; think about the Wall.)  You can imagine that many
Palestinians thought about tit-for-tat. After all, who's toughest in
their opposition to Israel, Fatah or Hamas? The Sharonicks and their
less-secular Zionist maximalists have produced a mirror-image
resistance.

BTW, the corruption of Fatah is partly a result of the "peace
process." The US and Israel wanted a tame Arafat, so they bought him.
The recent campaign help that the US provided to Fatah is in this
tradition.
--
Jim Devine

"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an
intimate knowledge of its ugly side." -- James Baldwin