Hi. The memorial service for Frank Wilkinson is today, 2 p.m. at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., in LA.. The main analysis presents other dimensions of the eruption in Palestine, and then the NY Times, on the bottom line. Both deserve careful reading and not with despair. Ed
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan06/Ash27.htm Bravo Abbas! Bravo Hamas! by Gabriel Ash www.dissidentvoice.org January 27, 2006 Elections results in the Occupied Territories show that Fatah has lost its majority in the Palestinian parliament by a stunningly large margin. This is a transformational event with lasting geopolitical importance, for Hamas and Fatah, for Palestinians and Israelis, and for the world. Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah and head of the make-believe Palestinian "government", was never an inspiring figure. Palestine today is still at a stage that requires a liberation movement. Yet Abbas, even more than Arafat before him, bought into the Western conceit that he was a head of state in the making. Rather than leading the struggle for liberation, Abbas focused on being a technocrat to satisfy the rhetorical needs of the EU and the US who funded him. In his speeches, he sometimes channeled the words dictated to him by his donors more than the aspirations of his constituents. His handling of his greatest challenge as a politician -- restoring cohesion and a sense of purpose to Fatah -- was mediocre. The necessary takeover of Fatah by the younger generation of leaders is happening, but far from smoothly, and older figures widely perceived as corrupt and ineffectual continue to cling to power. Finally, Abbas has staked his grand strategy on the continuation of Oslo and a negotiated peace with Israel. On that front he has achieved nothing; although, to be fair, it wasn't his fault. Nevertheless, Abbas is about to make history, and leave his people and the whole region an inspiring gift. Abbas is overseeing the first grand democratic defeat of an Arab leader in a popular election. If he steps down as he has promised to do, he will have completed an achievement without parallel. Let it be noticed that losing was not as easy as it may seem. Abbas had to overcome and ignore the persistent calls within his own party to postpone the elections. He had to contend with a grand chorus of Israeli, US and EU voices calling on him to undermine the democratic process by excluding Hamas. He had opportunities aplenty to cave in. He did not. Palestinians, not the least because of their poverty and years of stubborn resistance, have a more democratic culture than the rest of the Middle East. Nevertheless, it is to Abbas' credit that he accepted and expressed this democratic spirit. It is a rare leader anywhere, and rarer still in the Middle East, who doesn't imagine himself God's gift to his nation. For defending the integrity of this fragile democratic exercise even as it went against him Abbas deserves an unqualified Bravo. Hamas is the big winner of the elections. It too deserves a Bravo. (From reading the mainstream Western media, one gets the impression that the only interesting question is when Hamas will recognize Israel and renounce violence. Our "objective" journalists cannot possibly adopt a perspective other than that of the Israeli state. Do send them a nice card; their "profession" is the oldest in the world. I will not bore you with the same question. I hope Hamas does what Palestinians expect them to do and nothing else -- lead the fight for liberty and dignity.) For many years now Hamas has been at the forefront of the struggle for Palestinian liberation. While far from being alone, Hamas recognized early that Oslo was a cul-de-sac and a fraud. For better or for worse -- and the jury is still out -- Hamas played a crucial role in the decision to meet the militarized Israeli repression of the second intifada with arms. Hamas was early to adopt the tactic of suicide attacks. Thanks to the usual double standard, these are viewed in the West as more reprehensible than the much more lethal weapons routinely used by Israel. Fatefully, Hamas took a hard line on the use of suicide attacks, refusing to accept distinctions others proposed, such as between civilian and military targets, or between targets inside the Occupied Territories and those in pre-67 Israel. While I believe this was Hamas' biggest mistake and a missed opportunity to drive a wedge between Israel's bellicose leadership and less bellicose public, Hamas' position reflected significant segments of Palestinian public opinion and was neither less nor more immoral than Israel's military practices. Crucial to its current electoral success is Hamas' recognition that resistance is more than guns. Since its inception, Hamas has operated mosques, schools, clinics and charities. It has made the survival and maintenance of Palestinian society a major priority, providing vital services in an economic environment that got bleaker by the day. Despite not having access to the larger sums and apparently useless expertise that the PA received from the US and the EU, Hamas is widely recognized to have done a better job than the PA as a provider of services. That is no small success and reflects well on the qualities of Hamas' leaders and cadres. Beyond that, it demonstrates Hamas ability to maintain a spirit of dedication and personal integrity. Public rejection of corruption is no doubt a major explanation for the rise of Hamas. But so is religion. Palestinian society has turned increasingly to religion in response to the hardships of daily life under Israeli occupation. At the same time, it is hard not to credit the religious bond and commitment for Hamas' strength and ability to resist the lure of corruption. It is fashionable in the West, especially at the center and left of the political discourse, to compare "our fundamentalists with theirs." While there is truth in that comparison, it misses quite a lot. "Our fundamentalists," from George Bush to Pat Robertson, are fundamentally corrupt. Their religion is a racket. On the Muslim side the opposite seems often to be the case. Far from being a shakedown, religion over there is an antidote to corruption. Karl Marx famously dismissed religion as "Opium for the masses." In the Middle East it is more like amphetamines. It keeps people going past the end of exhaustion and despair. While Palestinian society turned more religious, Hamas turned more ecumenical. Palestinian parliamentarian Hanan Ashrawi expressed fear that "militants will now impose their fundamentalist social agenda and lead the Palestinians into international isolation." That is a distinct and worrying possibility, but it is not set in stone. In these elections the candidates for Hamas' new political party "Reform and Change" included women, Christians, and moderates. Hamas is now a larger political tent of Palestinian nationalism with a strong religious orientation; it encompasses radicals, moderates and conservatives with a variety of perspectives. Tensions between democratic and religious authority will continue to exist, and narrow fundamentalist tendencies are clearly present. But there is also hope that the current openness will hold and that Hamas will continue to develop toward increased democracy and inclusiveness. With regards to the national struggle, which understandably casts a large shadow, Hamas has staked two major differences from Fatah. These differences underscore the threat that the victory of Hamas poses to the West's colonial strategies. Hamas maintains it will continue to defend armed struggle as a legitimate option. For now, Hamas is abstaining from violence, although the cease-fire agreed in Cairo had officially expired. It is quite possible that Hamas will continue to favor peaceful means. But it refuses to cave in to pressure and maintains the right to evaluate its strategies from a Palestinian rather than Western perspective. American, Israeli and European officials claim they will not talk to Hamas as long as it doesn't renounce violence. As long as these hypocrites don't renounce violence themselves, they have zero moral authority. Hamas deserves credit for refusing to take moral guidance from self-righteous bullies. Hamas is also refusing to recognize Israel and negotiate on the basis of Oslo and the roadmap. Instead Hamas candidates have outlined a strategy of independence, strengthening Palestinian society and resistance and advancing national goals without relying on Israeli and international approval. Hamas calls this option "ignoring Israel." In the current international context, such a strategy is dangerous but not without sense. While Israel demands to be recognized, it is clearly unwilling to recognize minimal Palestinian demands. Both the White House and the Democrats -- "progressive" such as Barack Obama and regressive like Clinton and Lieberman -- are parroting Israel like a second grade pupil reading from My Pet Goat. The EU seems mostly interested in helping the US play a good cop, bad cop routine. There will be a price to pay, but Hamas seems to think the West has currently little to offer Palestinians beyond money to lubricate the wheels of corruption. There is precious little evidence to prove them wrong. As Hamas handles the pressure of assuming power, either in a coalition with Fatah or alone, it is possible that these two principles will be watered down significantly. The price for consistency may be too high, especially in lost foreign assistance. Palestinians today survive on foreign charity (or, one could rephrase that as saying that the Israeli occupation is financed by the EU and the US). Unless Hamas can hook up new donors to replace the EU and US, it may be willing to compromise rather than face a popular backlash. I hope that Hamas finds creative ways to subvert this new phase of Western colonialism. But realistically, the challenge is enormous. As a secular leftist, I would have been more comfortable had Palestinian society coalesced around a leftist resistance movement. I'm sure many readers share that preference. But Palestine is not in Latin America, and our comfort level is not the most pressing issue. Hamas is today an important face of the Palestinian struggle for liberty, equality and justice. It is the face chosen by the majority of the Palestinian public in the Occupied Territories in clear defiance of Western colonialism. With its new power and old habits, Hamas will have plenty of opportunities to go wrong. However, as long as it maintains its commitment to democracy and strives to advance the rights of all Palestinians to full human dignity, Hamas can be a force for good. Gabriel Ash is an activist and writer who writes because the pen is sometimes mightier than the sword and sometimes not. He welcomes comments at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Other Articles by Gabriel Ash * Rev. Jackson -- Pissing on the Graves of Civil Rights Heroes * Imagine All the People, Living Like Mindless Lambs * Mourning in America * Oh!-sama * Diagnosing Benny Morris * When at a Loss, Escalate * Dear Ayatollah * Settlements: A User's Guide * A Victory for Israeli Democracy * Don't Get Mad, Get Going! * Pink Delusions *** http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/international/middleeast/28mideast.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th Hamas Aid May Be Cut By STEVEN ERLANGER NY Times: January 28, 2006 JERUSALEM, Jan. 27 - Hamas leaders, savoring their landslide victory in Palestinian elections, faced an array of threats on Friday: a huge government deficit, a likely cutoff of most aid, international ostracism and the rage of defeated and armed Fatah militants. Fatah supporters burned cars at the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City Friday during a protest against the election victory of Hamas. Hamas supporters celebrated the party's victory in the Palestinian election with a parade through the north Gaza town of Beit Lahiya Friday. Of the many questions that the Hamas victory presents, the need to pay basic bills and salaries to Palestinians is perhaps the most pressing. The Palestinian Authority is functionally bankrupt, with a deficit of $69 million for January alone. That will be an urgent question when the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, known as the quartet, meet in London on Monday to discuss the Palestinian vote, especially if, as some American officials fear, Hamas turns to Iran to make up some of the difference. "They don't have enough to get through the end of the month," a knowledgeable Western diplomat said. "The United States and the European Union both consider Hamas a terrorist organization, and we don't provide money to terrorist organizations or members of terrorist organizations." In Washington, President Bush said "aid packages won't go forward" for the Palestinian Authority if Hamas did not renounce violence or its commitment to destroy Israel. "That's their decision to make," he said on CBS News. "But we won't be providing help to a government that wants to destroy our ally and friend." Meanwhile, in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, Hamas supporters clashed with Fatah gunmen and the Palestinian security forces in two separate incidents, leaving six people wounded, according to witnesses and medical workers. [Page A9.] In Davos, Switzerland, James D. Wolfensohn, the quartet's envoy to the Middle East, spoke of the Palestinians' financial problems, saying there was not enough money to pay the salaries of 135,000 Palestinian civil servants, including some 58,000 members of the security forces, which he said could lead to further chaos. Because Hamas has not yet formed a government, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has asked American help to persuade the Persian Gulf countries to provide more aid now, and to ensure that Israel delivers the $40 million to $50 million owed to the Palestinian Authority from tax and customs receipts, which Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians. Israel has made it clear that it will not deal with a Palestinian Authority run by Hamas and has said some of those who have won election are wanted for suspected involvement in anti-Israel violence. Most of them are in semi-seclusion, and fear arrest if they try to travel to Ramallah, the site of the Palestinian parliament in the West Bank. Also in Davos, Joseph Bachar, director general of Israel's Finance Ministry, raised the question of whether Israel would continue to transfer the tax and customs receipts to an authority run by Hamas, which does not recognize the existence of Israel. The departing Palestinian economy minister, Mazen Sinokrot, said the 135,000 civil servants were the main breadwinners for 30 percent of Palestinian families. "If these salaries do not come in, this is a message for violence," he said. Israeli officials suggested that Ehud Olmert, Israel's acting prime minister, would agree to release this month's money anyway, since a Hamas government has not been formed, but questioned whether Israel would agree to give any money to Hamas in the future. "We don't want to punish the Palestinian people," an official said. "But we don't have any illusions about Hamas." Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, said in an interview in Gaza that he was not worried about the lack of money from the West. "All the money from Europe and American went into the pockets of corrupt men," Mr. Zahar said, citing Palestinian security chiefs as a leading example. "The leaders of these services became multimillionaires. We are going to reform these services. This is our mission." The current financial crunch has little to do with Hamas. The Palestinian Authority last summer broke its promises to the World Bank and the donor countries and significantly raised salaries to public employees, a number swollen by the effort to absorb armed young men into the security forces. All its $1 billion in revenues is now taken up by salaries, according to the World Bank, leaving an expected budget deficit for 2006 of $600 million to $700 million; only about $320 million of that would have been covered by foreign contributions from the United States, Europe and Arab countries. The plan assumed a Fatah victory in the elections and the formation of a new, more technocratic government. Donor countries and the World Bank were working on a restructuring program for the Palestinian Authority that would cover its large financial debt for the next few years in return for serious reforms and job-creation programs. But the victory by Hamas has exploded all those assumptions. Direct payments from the United States are banned by American law, and many European nations have said they will not continue to aid the Palestinian Authority until Hamas agrees to recognize Israel and disavow violence, which Hamas has said it will never do. American and European officials are also banned from talking to Hamas officials, elected or otherwise. Once a group is on the American terrorist list, as Hamas is, it is difficult to get off; it takes more than pledges or statements, a Western diplomat said. The development minister for the new German government, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, said Friday that German aid to the Palestinians depended on Hamas's renouncing violence and recognizing Israel. Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to make a first official visit to the region next week, and her spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, said Friday: "The recognition of Israel's right to security and to exist remains an irrevocable cornerstone of German foreign policy." Ms. Merkel will meet Mr. Abbas but no Hamas official. Hamas candidates and officials have played down the problem, saying they will appeal to the Arab and Muslim world, which already gives large amounts of aid to Hamas and its charitable and educational organizations - some of which, Israel says, moves seamlessly to finance its military operations. Hamas already gets aid from Iran, Israeli and American officials say, and it is possible that Iran may be willing to provide larger sums to the Palestinian Authority. But Israeli and Western diplomats say Hamas, as a Palestinian branch of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, could also be wary of becoming overly dependent on Shiite Iran. Former President Jimmy Carter, who led a team of election observers for the Palestinian voting, said in an interview on Friday that the United States and Europe should redirect their relief aid to United Nations organizations and nongovernmental organizations to skirt legal restrictions. "The donor community can deal with it successfully," Mr. Carter said. "I would hope the world community can collectively tide the Palestinians over." He urged support for what he said Mr. Wolfensohn was describing to him as a $500 million appeal. "It may well be that Hamas can change," Mr. Carter said, remembering his presidency, when the Palestine Liberation Organization under Yasir Arafat finally agreed to recognize the existence of Israel and to forswear terrorism. "It's a mistake to abandon optimism completely." He urged Israel and the world: "Don't drive the Palestinians away from rationality. Don't force them into assuming arms as the only way to achieve their legitimate goals. Give them some encouragement and the benefit of the doubt." But it will be politically difficult to do that. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, said he had spoken to the Europeans and Mr. Wolfensohn about the fiscal crunch. "But the fact of the matter is, you cannot pour millions and hundreds of millions of dollars into a group that, in fact, calls for the destruction of an ally, or for any country, for that matter," Mr. Biden said. The Western diplomat said: "We're discussing a lot of complicated questions. But even before the election, the Palestinian Authority's fiscal house was in disarray, with a huge deficit every month." It will be worse still, he said, if the Israelis stop cash transfers and there is a halt in direct aid from the West and the World Bank. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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