[VTJP] Tim Rothermel in Newsweek article

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 00:09:51 -0700

An article from Newsweek I'm passing along because it features Miriam's friend Tim Rothermel. The article itself is mostly fish wrap.
 
Terror and Democracy: Can elections modify the behavior of Islamic militant groups fighting occupation?
Hamas rising: With support in the polls, the terrorist group could benefit from spreading democracy
By Michael Hirsh and Dan Ephron
Newsweek
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8185330/site/newsweek/
 
June 20 issue - Tim Rothermel has spent the past nine years in Gaza and the West Bank trying to make life better for Palestinians. As the local head of the U.N. Development Program, he seeks out competent and honest Palestinian officials who will find good uses for the millions of dollars in aid?some of it U.S. government funds?that he directs to building roads, schools, clinics and government institutions. Rothermel, a native North Carolinian and a registered Republican, doesn't use a political litmus test. "I'm sure I've met many Hamas officials, but I don't know who they are," he says. "It's not a question I ask." The recent election of municipal councils in Gaza, he adds, was based "not so much on whether the candidate was Hamas or Fatah or communist or whatever. It's more the person who is your neighbor, whom you know. And who's best going to fix the potholes in the street."
 
Perhaps unwittingly, Rothermel was giving voice last week to George W. Bush's "pothole theory" of democracy. In recent months, the president has been grappling with the prospect that terrorist groups he has long condemned?especially Hamas and Hizbullah?may soon benefit from his plans for spreading democratic elections. The problem is especially acute in Gaza, from which Israeli forces are set to withdraw in August. Although the Palestinian Authority nominally administers Gaza, the withdrawal will leave a power vacuum, and Hamas is thought to have 30 to 40 percent support in the polls. Asked in March about Hizbullah's political power in neighboring Lebanon, Bush affirmed his evangelical belief in the healing power of democracy?the idea that even terrorists can be weaned from violence by the need to satisfy their constituencies. "Maybe some will run for office and say, 'Vote for me; I look forward to blowing up America'," Bush said. "But ... I think people who generally run for office say, 'Vote for me; I'm looking forward to fixing your potholes or making sure you've got bread on the table'."
 
America's official policy is not to associate or talk with terrorist organizations. And Hamas and Hizbullah are both on the U.S. terrorism list, which bars them from receiving aid money. Bush also spent much of his first term pressing European governments to cut off funding to Hamas and withdraw recognition of Hizbullah's political wing in Lebanon. When asked, U.S. officials insist they will have no dealings with Hamas.
 
In private, however, the president has been gingerly laying out what one senior European official described as Bush's "theory of redemption." (The official spoke only on condition that his name and nationality not be revealed.) Administration officials have pointed to reform in groups like Sinn Fein?the political wing of the Irish Republican Army?and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which in the '90s officially renounced terror. "The president has a sort of reflexive view that democratic politics is indeed a healing politics," says Robert Satloff, head of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "They are grappling with how you translate it into a policy."
 
The president's new tone, and his apparent support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's hands-off approach to Hamas, has begun to worry the Israelis. Although Israeli forces have been unable to disarm or destroy the fundamentalist group during decades of occupation, Ariel Sharon's government fears that Hamas may gain international legitimacy through elections. Israeli intelligence officials say Hamas is rapidly building its armed wing and pursuing ultimate plans to take over the Palestinian Authority. Sharon is especially concerned that the Israeli right will accuse him of creating a Hamas state by withdrawing. As a result, he's asked for clarification on Washington's views, says adviser Zalman Shoval, the former ambassador to Washington. "The president assured Prime Minister Sharon not only that there wouldn't be a change in policy towards Hamas but that the administration doesn't believe there will be a peaceful Hamas," Shoval told NEWSWEEK.
 
Just as important, Hamas itself has shown little inclination to change its ways. "We don't have any opposition to holding a dialogue with any party, especially with the United States," says Hassan Yousef, a leading Hamas figure. "But I'm not ready to pay a price for this dialogue by sacrificing our right to resist the occupation and to change our policies."
 
Those policies still include the use of terror, and Hamas still aims to eliminate the state of Israel. U.S. officials are aware of the pitfalls of pining for reform: neither Sinn Fein nor the Palestinian Authority, at least until Yasir Arafat died last year, ever completely abjured terrorist violence. And with Bush pledging hundreds of millions more dollars in aid to Abbas, Washington is looking for ways to bypass Hamas officials in delivering assistance. Since 2003, it has required that any direct beneficiary of U.S. aid sign a strict "antiterrorist certification." Tim Rothermel, for one, says he believes ways will be found to get aid to untainted officials, even in Hamas-run towns. "Even if voters have elected Hamas," he says, "I still think you're gonna figure out a way to help an orphanage or build a couple of classrooms." That is, as long as those classrooms don't teach terror.
 
With Richard Wolffe in Washington
=====================================
 
 "We Are The Children of the Camp"
Burlington, June 30, 2005
Al Rowwad Children's Theater and Cultural Training Center from the Aida refugee camp in occupied Bethlehem, Burlington's sister city. Contois Auditorium, City Hall, Church St, Burlington, VT Thursday, June 30 at 7:00 PM. Bring the family and join us for an evening of children's theater and dance, and help support this extraordinary example of working for peace.
"We Are The Children of the Camp"
Montpelier, July 1, 2005
Al Rowwad Children's Theater and Cultural Training Center from the Aida refugee camp in occupied Bethlehem, Burlington's sister city. Trinity Methodist Church, corner of Main and School streets, Montpelier, VT Friday, July 1 at 6:00 PM.
"We Are The Children of the Camp"
Glover, July 3, 2005
Al Rowwad Children's Theater and Cultural Training Center from the Aida refugee camp in occupied Bethlehem, Burlington's sister city. Bread and Puppet Theater, Glover, VT, Sunday, July 3.
 
 
 

Yahoo! Groups Links

Reply via email to