This from AP:
- Hamas formally took power Wednesday, with the Palestinian president swearing in a 24-member Cabinet that includes 14 ministers who served time in Israeli prisons.
The ceremony, which came just a day after Israel’s national election, ended a two-month transition period of ambiguity since Hamas’ election victory in January.
With a Hamas government installed, the lines of confrontation with Israel were clearly drawn. Hamas insists it will not soften its violent ideology toward the Jewish state.
Israel’s presumed prime minister-designate, Ehud Olmert, has countered that if Hamas will not bend, he will set the borders of a Palestinian state by himself and keep large areas of the West Bank.
With Hamas at the helm, the Palestinian Authority also faces a crippling international economic boycott.
“With Hamas taking over now, you can’t have business as usual,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said…
In the slideshow that AP has of current and recent news photos from the region, there are images of massive and very peaceful Hamas demonstrations greeting the government’s swearing-in, in Gaza. (Of course, some of the ministers had to be sworn in in Ramallah, since Israel won’t allow even parliamentarians and PA government ministers of whom it disapproves to travel between the two portions of the OPTs.)
There were also images of Ismail Haniyeh and his Gaza-bound governmental colleagues all standing together outside the parliament building there, holding up their index fingers. It was an obvious visual reference to the images of people in Iraq and Palestine holding up ink-stained fingers after they participated in their recent, respective elections.
So, now we have a government responsible to a duly elected parliament installed in occupied Palestine. We don’t yet have one in Iraq. But what will happen to the plans the Palestinian government has to build a better life for their people?
Let’s see.
just maybe the twin goals of “building a better life for their people” and denying Israel’s legitimacy (even behind the green lines) are not compatible.
“For more than a quarter century, Israeli policy has been in conflict with that of the United States and the international community. Israel’s occupation of Palestine has obstructed a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land, regardless of whether Palestinians had no formalized government, one headed by Yasir Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas, or with Abbas as president and Hamas controlling the parliament and cabinet.”
http://us.f377.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=8168_3146841_151329_2999_6444_0_1782_18641_2419785179&Idx=6&YY=46414&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Inbox
Helena,
You write: “But what will happen to the plans the Palestinian government has to build a better life for their people?”
Well, that is a complex question in ways different than your wording suggests. What is the desireable shape – as understood by Palestinian Arabs – of a better life for the Palestinian Arabs? Does HAMAS advocate improvement as understood in the historic liberal model? Does HAMAS advocate improvement as understood by the Muslim Brotherhood and as argued by Sayyid Qutb – which is quite a different thing -? Is it to be a better life as might have been understood by Aristotle – again, a very different thing -?
Then, of course, there is the question of whether HAMAS is willing to do what is necessary to allow a good life – whatever is meant by that terms -. The good life in the historic liberal model is not possible if HAMAS is dedicated to Jihad. And, frankly, it is not possible if HAMAS is dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
Jonathan Edelstein argues that a viable state for the Arabs of the territories is necessary for Israelis to build a good life and should be advocated. Presumably, Israel’s viability is also necessary for the Arabs of the territories. The last point, however, is the Achilles heel since HAMAS advocates Israel’s destruction by Jihad war.
Now, a good peacenik – even one who favors and cares about the Arabs of the territories – might note somewhere in her writing just how destructive HAMAS’ actual agenda really is. After all, whatever shortcomings the Israelis may have, it takes two parties to settle the dispute. It does not take one party which takes the view, as a principled stand, that non-negotiation is an article of religion, as HAMAS has done. Here are HAMAS’ words, as enshrined in their covenant:
Article Thirteen
The initiatives, the so-called peace solutions, and the international conferences for resolving the Palestinian problem stand in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement, for to neglect any part of Palestine is to neglect part of the Islamic faith. The nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its [Islamic] faith. It is in the light of this principle that its members are educated, and they wage jihad in order to raise the banner of Allah over the homeland.
“And Allah has full control over His affairs; but most people do not know.” (Koran, 12:21)
From time to time there are calls to hold an international conference in order to seek a solution for the [Palestinian] problem. Some accept this [proposal] and some reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the fulfillment of some condition or conditions before they agree to hold the conference and participate in it. However, the Islamic Resistance Movement – since it is familiar with the parties participating in the conference and with their past and current positions on the issues of the Muslims – does not believe that these conferences can meet the demands or restore the rights [of the Palestinians], or bring equity to the oppressed. These conferences are nothing but a way to give the infidels power of arbitration over Muslim land, and when have the infidels ever been equitable towards the believers?
“The Jews will never be content with you, nor will the Christians, until you follow their religion. Say: ‘The guidance of Allah is the right guidance.’ But if you follow their desires after the knowledge which has come to you, then you shall have no protector or guardian from Allah.” (Koran, 2:120)
There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are a waste of time and a farce. The Palestinian people is far too eminent to have its future, its rights and its destiny toyed with. As stated in the Hadith: “The people of Al-Sha’m are [Allah’s] rod in His land. Through them, He wreaks vengeance on whomever He wishes among His servants. The hypocrites among them are not allowed to be superior to the believers among them, and they shall die in grief and distress.” (Recorded by Al-Tabarani with a chain of transmitters to Muhammad, and by Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal] with an incomplete chain of transmitters to Muhammad which may be the accurate record, the transmitters in both cases being trustworthy – Allah alone is omniscient).
When, Helena, will friends of the Palestinian Arabs take a stand regarding the garbage that has spewed forth from HAMAS and demand they reconcile – morally reconcile, as that is necessary for peace – with the legitimate rights of the Israelis?
Or, do you believe – and against the evidence of misery for non-Muslims in Egypt, in Iran, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Sudan, etc., etc. – as HAMAS claims (and again, I quote their covenant): “Under the wing of Islam, the followers of the three religions – Islam, Christianity and Judaism – can co-exist in security and safety”? The recent imagines from Afghanistan’s Christian convert comes to mind – and I know for a fact that the same scenario occurs all over the Muslim regions and is not limited to Afghanistan -.
From your question and the comments of yours I have read of late, I think that you are not morally outraged by Palestinian rejectionism. If I understand you correctly – and I might not -, I cannot imagine how you expect peace between the parties and, without peace, how the Palestinian Arabs might ever thrive in any sense that you might perceive to be desirable.