Aohell

Hamas Not a Surprise Here

OK, so it's pretty cheeky of me to say I predicted a Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections, but I did. Now they're winning, it seems, so there you go.

I don't particularly like Hamas. I don't like Fatah, either. But I'm not voting, so like either of them care. What was important was that Palestinians liked Hamas. Nearly every Palestinian I've met either says nothing about which party he backs or whispers, "I'm a Hamas supporter." Nobody comes out for Fatah. The reasons are complicated, but generally boil down to intense dissatisfaction with the corruption in Fatah.

The Palestinians, in general, are a pissed-off people. Over 50 years of conflict with Israel can make a group intolerant. That intolerance extends to their politicians. They're not about to let some bunch of fat cats move in and set up shop, not yet. They're not yet comfortable enough to accept an aristocracy, so it's mob rule for the time being, and the mobs like Hamas.

Hamas may be a terrorist group in the eyes of the US government, but to the Palestinians, they're a group that delivers the goods. They've fought on against Israel and set up welfare networks when it looked like Fatah was more concerned with embezzling aid money. Their leadership has close ties with Lebanon's Hizbollah, another terrorist success story, and they hope to do to Israel in Palestine what Hizbollah did to Israel in Lebanon.

Not a good time to be a moderate in the Holy Land. I don't plan on making a trip there anytime soon.