Love of the Land: Hamas Reascendant

Hamas Reascendant

P. David Hornik
FrontPagemag.com
15 December 09

“Brothers and sisters, we will not be satisfied with Gaza. Hamas looks toward the whole of Palestine.”

So said Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh on Monday as he addressed a rally in Gaza City to mark the 22^nd anniversary of Hamas’s founding as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

As one report describes it,

“Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters thronged downtown Gaza City…. Gaza was decked out in Islamic green, with Hamas flags fluttering from roofs, lampposts and cars. Some parents dressed small children in combat fatigues and green Hamas headbands.

“The crowd packed an outdoor square where a huge banner draped over the wall of a building showed a picture of Jerusalem’s main Islamic shrine and photos of senior Hamas figures.

“Leaders made fiery speeches, bands played and scout troops marched in processions….”

At a time when both the United States and the European Union treat Palestinian statehood as one of the cardinal goals of international politics, seemingly these lines are worth pausing over. When one speaks of “the Palestinians”—the allegedly deprived group that receives more attention and assistance than all others—one is speaking in large part of supporters of an Islamic-fundamentalist movement whose proclaimed goal is the destruction of Israel pure and simple. The people willing to “dress small children in combat fatigues and green Hamas headbands” are—in considerable part—“the Palestinians.”

(Full article)

Love of the Land: Hamas Reascendant