Welcome to "Hamastan," Taliban style
We warned the world that this was what we were afraid of as terrorist regimes gained a foothold in sovereign nations. Israel has been patient with the world and their idea of a "peace process," but as we see in this WaPo piece today, Hamas doesn't seem to want to try peace. They prefer brute force and subjugation:
For years, the seaside Flower of the Cities resort was that rare place in the Gaza Strip where the dress code did not rule out bikinis. Now, with some of its cinder-block cabanas turned into prayer rooms, the beach club shows how Hamas is consolidating its hold here three months after seizing power.
Bushy beards and black head-to-toe cloaks for women have become common at the club, which the armed Islamic movement torched in June after routing the secular Fatah party on the streets. The facility has been rebranded the al-Aqsa Resort, with a new logo featuring the revered mosque complex in Jerusalem next to a beach umbrella. Hamas followers collect the $2.50 entrance fee.
Like the party it supported, the bikini crowd has disappeared, leaving the trash-flecked beach and murky swimming pool to Bassem al-Khodori and a half-dozen other Hamas supporters, who now have jobs at the resort.
"Before," said Khodori, 32, a cafeteria worker, "only the others were allowed."
Facing money shortages, a shrinking private sector and growing political resistance, Hamas leaders are increasingly imposing harsh interpretations of Islamic law and using brute force to bolster their isolated administration, which remains illegitimate in the view of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and his U.S.-backed government in the West Bank.
Reconciliation between the two largest Palestinian parties -- now running parallel governments in what had been envisioned as the two territories of a Palestinian state with a single government -- appears as distant as when Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led power-sharing government after the fighting in June.
Many of Gaza's almost 1.5 million residents, who celebrated Israel's withdrawal two years ago only to fall into civil war soon after, have seen their lives improve in some ways and suffer in others as the result of the political split within the Palestinian Authority and Hamas's brand of rule here.
While Hamas has imposed order on Gaza's lawless streets, gunmen from its Executive Force, a 5,000-member paramilitary unit, have employed repressive tactics against Fatah supporters and local journalists.
International aid is again funding Palestinian government salaries, helping revive parts of Gaza's economy. But the closure of the cargo crossings from Israel for all but emergency aid is depriving Gaza's small manufacturers of raw materials.
An estimated 85 percent of the territory's manufacturing sector has been shut down since June and more than 35,000 workers have been laid off, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"We blame Hamas, the reason for all of this," said Hamdi Badr, 49, who two months ago shut down the clothing factory his family has owned since 1969. "But we don't really know what to do."
When the peace process breaks down, and thwe thugs are in control, this is what is to be expected. Hamas never had any intention of peace with Israel, or even with their fellow Palestinians. What can Palestinians do? Nothing. You reap what you sow, and they did elect these animals in an exercise of democracy. What's happening to Gaza right now is all the fault of the Palestinian people. The problem we see is that Hamas isn't going to give it's power up, and the idea of the Palestinians being able to toss these guys out is slim and none.
But we should we remind people that this is what happens when terrorists are trusted to be politicians and leaders. They can't handle it, and always resort to force to enact their ideas. Sharia law? That's the least of the problems in Gaza, but one that should be dealt with before we end up with another Taliban-like regime that will shortly turn it's eyes towards Israel, and spark an all-out war they have no hope of winning.
Publius II
For years, the seaside Flower of the Cities resort was that rare place in the Gaza Strip where the dress code did not rule out bikinis. Now, with some of its cinder-block cabanas turned into prayer rooms, the beach club shows how Hamas is consolidating its hold here three months after seizing power.
Bushy beards and black head-to-toe cloaks for women have become common at the club, which the armed Islamic movement torched in June after routing the secular Fatah party on the streets. The facility has been rebranded the al-Aqsa Resort, with a new logo featuring the revered mosque complex in Jerusalem next to a beach umbrella. Hamas followers collect the $2.50 entrance fee.
Like the party it supported, the bikini crowd has disappeared, leaving the trash-flecked beach and murky swimming pool to Bassem al-Khodori and a half-dozen other Hamas supporters, who now have jobs at the resort.
"Before," said Khodori, 32, a cafeteria worker, "only the others were allowed."
Facing money shortages, a shrinking private sector and growing political resistance, Hamas leaders are increasingly imposing harsh interpretations of Islamic law and using brute force to bolster their isolated administration, which remains illegitimate in the view of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and his U.S.-backed government in the West Bank.
Reconciliation between the two largest Palestinian parties -- now running parallel governments in what had been envisioned as the two territories of a Palestinian state with a single government -- appears as distant as when Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led power-sharing government after the fighting in June.
Many of Gaza's almost 1.5 million residents, who celebrated Israel's withdrawal two years ago only to fall into civil war soon after, have seen their lives improve in some ways and suffer in others as the result of the political split within the Palestinian Authority and Hamas's brand of rule here.
While Hamas has imposed order on Gaza's lawless streets, gunmen from its Executive Force, a 5,000-member paramilitary unit, have employed repressive tactics against Fatah supporters and local journalists.
International aid is again funding Palestinian government salaries, helping revive parts of Gaza's economy. But the closure of the cargo crossings from Israel for all but emergency aid is depriving Gaza's small manufacturers of raw materials.
An estimated 85 percent of the territory's manufacturing sector has been shut down since June and more than 35,000 workers have been laid off, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"We blame Hamas, the reason for all of this," said Hamdi Badr, 49, who two months ago shut down the clothing factory his family has owned since 1969. "But we don't really know what to do."
When the peace process breaks down, and thwe thugs are in control, this is what is to be expected. Hamas never had any intention of peace with Israel, or even with their fellow Palestinians. What can Palestinians do? Nothing. You reap what you sow, and they did elect these animals in an exercise of democracy. What's happening to Gaza right now is all the fault of the Palestinian people. The problem we see is that Hamas isn't going to give it's power up, and the idea of the Palestinians being able to toss these guys out is slim and none.
But we should we remind people that this is what happens when terrorists are trusted to be politicians and leaders. They can't handle it, and always resort to force to enact their ideas. Sharia law? That's the least of the problems in Gaza, but one that should be dealt with before we end up with another Taliban-like regime that will shortly turn it's eyes towards Israel, and spark an all-out war they have no hope of winning.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 8:17 PM
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