Reply to Seeking clarity about Hamas

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "Seeking clarity about Hamas "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=jsteele]It's a complicated question. Hamas has many aspects. It began as a social and charitable organization. It later added military and political components. Individuals may support some of what Hamas does, without supporting everything.  Hamas ran for seats in the Parliament and won support in Gaza. It did not run for nor was elected to administer Gaza. It took over control of Gaza after a battle with the Palestinian Authority and kicking them out.

The vote that is so often touted with nearly 20 years ago. Over half of Gazans weren't even born then. Nobody voted for Hamas to control Gaza, but these folks have never voted at all.

Once Hamas took control, dissent was not tolerated. There have been no opportunities for Gazans to express a lack of support. Moreover, like most authoritative governments, Hamas has been able to use the tools of government, influence of not control of media, and other tools at its disposal to generate a certain amount of support. Also, Israel's policies have often had the effect of pushing Gazans to rally to Hamas as people often do when faced with external aggression.

One thing that is clear is that the vast majority of Gazans have had no input into Hamas' actions. The average Gazan was not consulted on whether or not to attack Israel. As a matter of accuracy, we should distinguish between the Gazan people and the Hamas organization. 
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics