Of all the Palestinian resistance movements, Hamas is the one that has suffered most in the existing war. Tuesday’s killing of two of its leaders raises the number of its martyrs, at the leadership level, to a record that no other faction of the Palestinian movement has known in its entire history.
Hamas has always been in the eye of the storm. Many blame it as the cause for Israel’s violence and rampage in the past ten months. Many also claim that the movement was the main cause of Netanyahu becoming prime minister of Israel in the sense that it was the bomb explosions it had set off just before the polls that led to Shimon Peres losing the election.
Hamas may have made wrong calculations over the years. It may have escalated operations when it should have slowed them down, or may have held its hand when it should have acted. But one thing cannot be denied: it has introduced a new and important balance to the struggle and, thus, created a new political camp within the Palestinians. And, in the process, it has changed the nature of the Palestinian Authority that was historically in the hands of the Fatah.
No doubt that all Palestinians, both as groups and individuals, from the extreme left to the extreme right, have participated in all fronts against Israel. Many of them are no longer in Arab memory, but they all have defined the collective character of the struggle.
For its part, Hamas’ arrival on the scene has created a completely different situation in the occupied lands. The movement has become a factor that cannot be ignored, or taken for granted, in any negotiation. Despite what is said about its hard-line position, the statements of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Yasin, has repeatedly called for a peaceful negotiated settlement.
Israel today is keen to wipe off Hamas from the political map and root it out by a liquidation campaign that specifically targets its political leaders and those in charge of its popular and military operations. We saw that last Tuesday and earlier. The fact is that Hamas appeared on the scene as a result of Israel’s political hard-line and as a response to its religious extremism in the occupied territory. When Israel humiliated and marginalized the Palestinian Authority in its own land and in the eyes of its own people, Hamas gained importance with its readiness for struggle and revenge.
It is Israel that should take the blame for the appearance of Hamas, because it represents the end of Palestinian patience. It is the Palestinian response to Israel’s demolition of houses, cuts in water supply, roadblocks, closing of cities and universities, killing children, and rejection of all political solutions, involving maximum concessions, offered by the Palestinians.
For 30 years, the Arabs have pursued the idea of a Palestinian state in the land occupied in 1967, in return for ending the conflict. A state of their own is a right granted by international law to all people. But Israel continues to reject this only solution to the dispute. So it was only natural that Hamas was born and grew in strength, after Israel disarmed the Palestinian Authority and sabotaged all peaceful endeavors. Israel may be able to assassinate thousands of Hamas leaders, but it cannot sleep in peace, because it will continue to be haunted by the nightmare of thousands and thousands more of Hamas elements, so long as it continues to occupy others’ land.
