Grow Up, Hamas!!!
I was listening to the radio yesterday and it seems that Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza are now living significantly far worse off then they were before a substantial number of Hamas members were elected to the new Palestinian government. Why is this? Turns out that Hamas' continued insistance on "destruction of the State of Israel" as the primary base of their political platform has caused many many governments, who used to support the Palestinian people with foreign aid, to pull their money until Hamas, which was legitimized by popular election, renounces it position to eradicate its neighbor.
So is Hamas looking at this new landscape, where they are now legitimatized with responsibility to make the lives of thier constitutents who voted them to power, better and more safe? Nooooooooo! Instead of recognizing the grinding poverty, desolation, and destitution of their electorate who need immediate action to improve their living conditions, or purging the rampant corruption from their government and government/security agencies which would put Palestine back on the map; instead, Hamas is insisting on continually preaching its mantra of hate and "death to Israel", like a petulant child stomping its feet and throwing a tantrum just because its mother won't give it a piece of candy. What is more important to the average Palestinian: a safe place to raise their kids?, jobs that make a decent living? adequate housing and reliable water, sanitation, and electricity? a decent education that makes them competitive in the world marketplace? a chance that tomorrow will be better than today? or the destruction of Israel..... Hmmmmm, think, think, think. I believe that if a survey to determine the priorities of the average Palestinian adult was taken today in the West Bank and Gaza, the "death to Israel" issue would come in dead last.
Hamas now has a heavy responsibility to its people. It has to re-evaluate how it has to operate to give them what they really need: stability, safety, prosperity, and respect of others on the world stage. Hamas cannot keep stomping around raging that no one understands it, that it wants to kill its neighbors, that others are to blame for what is happening in Palestine, and that no one can tell it what to do. Hamas........grow up! You are no longer a child. You can no longer refuse to be part of the larger world picture. Just like a man whose first child is born, you can no longer go out and party all night with your dissolute friends, you have to get a steady job and support your family. You can no longer do a lot of the things you used to do when you were single and an outcast with no responsibilities. Your people are counting on you. Your loud and intransigent policy on the destruction of Israel is hurting your own people and for what? So you can save face? Is your saving face worth the lives of tens of thousands of your children?, of hundreds of thousands of your long suffering people? of forcing your people to live, against their will in squalor in refugee camps that were built 60 years ago and that long should have been abolished?, of fostering and reinforcing a culture of hate and intolerance? I think not! You are cowards! And you are refusing to face reality and take your responsibilities seriously. Take a look out your windows. What do you see? Do you see a place you and your friends are prowd of in terms of how people are living their lives and able to achieve their dreams? This is your responsibility now. It is time for you to get off your high horse which is getting you (and your people nowhere) and GET TO WORK!
Oh, I did read that to molify outside political powers and get that foreign money flowing (which was Hamas' true political base in the old days), that Hamas now says it will consider making its "death to Israel" a long term "truce" instead, not eliminating this goal, but saying it is putting it on the back burner. I mean, Get REAL! Who are you kidding?! The "death" policy still exists is and espoused vociferously and continually. Listen, no legitimate government is ever going to support a country whose main publicly stated purpose is to destroy its neighbor, truce or no truce. And why is that? Becuase all real governments know that this kind of "death" talk and these kind of actions are destabilizing and no government wants destabilization. It is simply a strategy of preservation.
When you are a rebel force trying to elicit some kind of change, almost any kind of over the top rhetoric can be tolerated becuase it is recognized that you have to be somewhat outrageous just to even be heard in this world (or to whip your population into a frenzy of support). However, once you make the goal of being part of the governing body of your people, you have to realize it is time to grow up and act like an adult! You have been given the trust of your people to make things better for them and what do you do? You shout the same old tired radicalized slogans, ignoring the plight of your people that is right under your nose. Grow up and look around. Your people have entrusted you to help them. Time to be a man! Yes, you may need to take some bitter medicine to do what is best for the people you now help to govern. Mahmoud Abbas has realized this and stepped up to the plate. I suggest you do likewise and and get to work. You have a lot to do and your ridiculous posturing, though it may make you feel like "men" is keeping your people from living as they should. Grow up!
So is Hamas looking at this new landscape, where they are now legitimatized with responsibility to make the lives of thier constitutents who voted them to power, better and more safe? Nooooooooo! Instead of recognizing the grinding poverty, desolation, and destitution of their electorate who need immediate action to improve their living conditions, or purging the rampant corruption from their government and government/security agencies which would put Palestine back on the map; instead, Hamas is insisting on continually preaching its mantra of hate and "death to Israel", like a petulant child stomping its feet and throwing a tantrum just because its mother won't give it a piece of candy. What is more important to the average Palestinian: a safe place to raise their kids?, jobs that make a decent living? adequate housing and reliable water, sanitation, and electricity? a decent education that makes them competitive in the world marketplace? a chance that tomorrow will be better than today? or the destruction of Israel..... Hmmmmm, think, think, think. I believe that if a survey to determine the priorities of the average Palestinian adult was taken today in the West Bank and Gaza, the "death to Israel" issue would come in dead last.
Hamas now has a heavy responsibility to its people. It has to re-evaluate how it has to operate to give them what they really need: stability, safety, prosperity, and respect of others on the world stage. Hamas cannot keep stomping around raging that no one understands it, that it wants to kill its neighbors, that others are to blame for what is happening in Palestine, and that no one can tell it what to do. Hamas........grow up! You are no longer a child. You can no longer refuse to be part of the larger world picture. Just like a man whose first child is born, you can no longer go out and party all night with your dissolute friends, you have to get a steady job and support your family. You can no longer do a lot of the things you used to do when you were single and an outcast with no responsibilities. Your people are counting on you. Your loud and intransigent policy on the destruction of Israel is hurting your own people and for what? So you can save face? Is your saving face worth the lives of tens of thousands of your children?, of hundreds of thousands of your long suffering people? of forcing your people to live, against their will in squalor in refugee camps that were built 60 years ago and that long should have been abolished?, of fostering and reinforcing a culture of hate and intolerance? I think not! You are cowards! And you are refusing to face reality and take your responsibilities seriously. Take a look out your windows. What do you see? Do you see a place you and your friends are prowd of in terms of how people are living their lives and able to achieve their dreams? This is your responsibility now. It is time for you to get off your high horse which is getting you (and your people nowhere) and GET TO WORK!
Oh, I did read that to molify outside political powers and get that foreign money flowing (which was Hamas' true political base in the old days), that Hamas now says it will consider making its "death to Israel" a long term "truce" instead, not eliminating this goal, but saying it is putting it on the back burner. I mean, Get REAL! Who are you kidding?! The "death" policy still exists is and espoused vociferously and continually. Listen, no legitimate government is ever going to support a country whose main publicly stated purpose is to destroy its neighbor, truce or no truce. And why is that? Becuase all real governments know that this kind of "death" talk and these kind of actions are destabilizing and no government wants destabilization. It is simply a strategy of preservation.
When you are a rebel force trying to elicit some kind of change, almost any kind of over the top rhetoric can be tolerated becuase it is recognized that you have to be somewhat outrageous just to even be heard in this world (or to whip your population into a frenzy of support). However, once you make the goal of being part of the governing body of your people, you have to realize it is time to grow up and act like an adult! You have been given the trust of your people to make things better for them and what do you do? You shout the same old tired radicalized slogans, ignoring the plight of your people that is right under your nose. Grow up and look around. Your people have entrusted you to help them. Time to be a man! Yes, you may need to take some bitter medicine to do what is best for the people you now help to govern. Mahmoud Abbas has realized this and stepped up to the plate. I suggest you do likewise and and get to work. You have a lot to do and your ridiculous posturing, though it may make you feel like "men" is keeping your people from living as they should. Grow up!
