30 Nov 2009 4:02 AM
The western media seems to be divided on the issue of Hamas's power: is it unpopular in Gaza but holding on by force, or does it represent the voice of the people?; is it gaining influence outside of Gaza, or is it a minor diplomatic player?
This week, Bloomberg implies that the Islamist Palestinian party is tightening its grip on Gaza by enforcing policies that amount to 'creeping Islamization.'
The Islamic Hamas movement banned girls last month from riding behind men on motor scooters and forbade women from dancing at the opening of a folk museum. Girls in some schools must wear Islamic headscarves and cloaks.
Signs of Hamas's creeping Islamization are everyw
here in
Gaza, the Mediterranean coastal enclave that Hamas has run by
itself since 2007. Gaza is already politically divided from the
West Bank, the Palestinian territory administered by the secular
Fatah movement.
"Ruling by itself, Hamas can stamp its ideas on everyone," said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Gaza's al-Azhar University. "Islamizing society has always been part of Hamas strategy."
Haaretz, meanwhile, says that Hamas's influence in the diplomatic arena is growing as a result of having become the main negotiator for a prisoner swap that would result in Gilad Shalit's release.
Throughout the negotiations, Hamas spokesmen insisted
that 1,400 prisoners would be released in a swap. Has Israel gotten
Hamas to fold on this demand? That's doubtful. For instance, the
state's response doesn't make it clear whether the 530 prisoners
include Palestinian women and youths. More prisoners may be released
after the first 980. And the state's response doesn't even mention the
hundreds of prisoners Israel is likely to release in the future, in a
bid to furbish the image of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas.
In other words, if the Shalit deal goes through, more
than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released in the coming months,
possibly close to 2,000.
Read All Comments (0)
|
Post a Comment |
Email To Friend
|
|
Thank you. Your comment is being held in moderation for an editor's approval. Approval is entirely at the editor's discretion. If the comment is argumentative, racist or repetitive; or if it includes socially unacceptable language or ad hominem attacks, it will be discarded automatically.
Related Posts
A recent study finds Muslims generally eschew Hamas and Hezbollah, but in countries neighboring Israel, there are "pockets of support" for both groups, reports the Jerusalem Post . Photo: Upyernoz - Flickr These findings, released last week...
Egypt's Sinai bedouins are smuggling migrants from Sudan and Eritrea into Israel, Global Post reports. A stable economy and sound rule of law have shaped Israel into something of a promised land for sub-Saharan African asylum-seekers, often fleeing...
By Mariam Hamed in Gaza - Special to Palestine Note February 7, 2010 Don't be surprised if one day you find a crying infant thrown in front of a children's hospital, left by a sidewalk, or a trash can in the streets of Gaza. It is an "infant...
The New York Times' Jaron Gilinsky and Isabel Kershner explore the phenomenon of normalized protests between Palestinians and IDF soldiers in their video " The Spectacle of West Bank Protests ." What was once "an isolated act of civil...
Egyptian police have arrested Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Mahmoud Ezzat and two others, reports the Associated Press via the New York Times . Photo: Turkairo - Flickr The Muslim Brotherhood was banned in 1954 but continues to be the largest opposition...
1 2 3 4 5 Next > ... Last »Posted at 30 Nov 2009 4:02 AM by Editor
Follow Palestine Note
Recently uploaded videos
Palestinians battle Israeli wall
Palestinians and Israeli dissenters are getting together to fight Israel's plan to build another section of the separation wall in the occupied West...
Palestinian and Israeli educators teaching side-by-side
Israel's MECHAVIM Institute for the Advancement of Shared Citizenship has been working with the Ministry of Education to bring Arab-Palestinian teachers...
Delayed indefinitely: AFP visits Gaza International Airport
Gaza International Airport has been closed for 9 years, since the Israeli military destroyed its runway and control tower during the Second Infitada in...
Make Your Voice Heard!
Be published on Palestine Note.
Click here
to submit articles, photos and video clips.
Most Viewed Items This Week


