http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2001/2001-December/027611.html
and 2003:
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2003w17/msg00112.htm
And, to be honest the well known sections of the Hamas Covenant that Morris quotes at the end of his piece, are scary...and strange how they sorta channel a very European "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" version of antisemitism mixed in a blender with Islamicism.
The problem with Benny's argument isn't necessarily his about Hamas itself, though I think he is knowingly brushing over the significant variations of opinion and approach among members of Hamas (even leadership) and his portrayal of a monolithic Hamas is an expedient political tool for him, but I think the main problem is his focusing on what Hamas is, without even considering what are the elements of context that have made Hamas gain progressively larger backing from the Palestinian public. After all, the Palestinians have been known historically for religious moderation, and it was the secular Fatah movement (along with the secular PFLP, etc.) which has always garnered the majority of the Palestinians support. Yes, the Hamas do have social services that are (in part at least) tools to bring people into the fold, but it is only within the context of a bleak outlook on life that comes from their day to day life under the Israeli occupation, that is the "good soil" in which so many Palestinians find the Hamas doctrine palatable. Moreover, the social services, health care and schooling that Hamas are able to provide, and which many people use, take place in a situation where the PA institutions are in disarray and people don't have many other opportunities, very much like in the growth of the Shas Party in Israel. Like in the New Testament, the parable of the sower:
"A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." (Luke 8:4-15; Mark 4:3-9; Matthew 13:3-9)
...Sorry to get biblical on you all...I am just now reading "The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason" by Charles Freemen, and it compelled me to read through the New Testament, and I was reading that parable today and it seemed to fit.
So, maybe there is a core of fundamentalists that would never change their tune and would continue to promote their static agenda (actually I think that the issue is more dynamic than that, but this could realistically be the case), but a social institution isn't only about documents and a small core cadre, it has to have popular backing in order to be effective on a large scale. The question is, what would happen to the institution if it lost the main element that was feeding it's power?
And what is the "good soil" in this case? I am sure Benny would disagree with me here, but I say: It's the occupation, stupid!
Bryan
Willy Greenfields wrote:
> Wow. I know Morris had been moving rightward for some
> time. When did it accelerate? He was still very
> readable as recently as Righteous Victims.
>
> What is less duplicitous and open to negotiation:
> Hamas' platform or Bush's "emancipating" attack on
> Iraq (with the forseeable deaths of 10s/100s of
> thousands) carried out on the instruction of a
> Christian God?
-- Bryan Atinsky Editor, News from Within e-mail: bryan at alt-info.org Tel: (972)2-624-1159 P.O. Box 31417, Jerusalem 91313 http://www.newsfromwithin.org http://www.alternativenews.org