Hamas succeeds in dividing Palestinians

Thirty months after the formation of its government, Hamas, the Islamic Palestinian movement, has demonstrated its ability to wage asymmetric war against Israel and hence establish a relative balance of terror to deter the Israeli army from reoccupying Gaza. Yet, in terms of good governance and democratic practices, one can say, the movement has miserably failed. It contributed to dividing the Palestinian people and has therefore served, wittingly or unwittingly, Israel's very interest. It has also given ammunition to those who have been for long arguing that Islam and democracy are incompatible and that for Islamists, democracy means "one man, one vote, once".

For the past two years, we have been advocating the argument that Hamas would provide a better alternative to the corrupt, power-lusty, authoritarian-oriented and secular Fatah movement, we were perhaps wrong. Since its victory in the January 2006 parliamentary elections, Hamas's key concern has been to establish its authority after it succeeded in establishing its legitimacy. It paid little attention to Palestinian unity, grievances and sacrifices. Its main objective was and remains to stay in power, no matter what the consequences are.

To that end, Hamas gave Israel and the West all the concessions needed in order to win recognition, to no avail though. It did almost nothing to preserve Palestinian unity or sustain the democratic process. Under external pressure, the Islamic movement sought to survive as a ruling party by adapting itself to the requirements of governance. It never missed an opportunity to prove to the rest of the world that it was and remains as rational and pragmatic as any other secular group. Hamas's leaders have shown full awareness of the fact that if they wanted to establish a solid political legitimacy at home and recognition abroad, they have somehow to move to the centre of Palestinian politics. They, hence, abandoned their original position, publicly at least, which is committed to the destruction of the state of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian national state on all of historic Palestine.

Hamas has also accepted a truce with Israel within its 1967 boundaries and has so far respected it. Even before the elections, Hamas was preparing the grounds to take a more pragmatic position concerning the peace process. It did not, thus, rule out talking to Israel, but attached conditions to commencing such talks. Dr Mahmoud Zahar, foreign minster in the first Hamas government, suggested that his movement might consider indirect talks with Israel under certain circumstances.

Indeed, it took Hamas more than two years marred with political disturbances, civil violence and a near civil war situation to develop its position further and respond to the challenges of governance in a complicated and inhospitable environment. Yet, the outcome was already being decided; a move towards more moderation and adaptation.

However, moderation and adaptation to the international environment was not accompanied by similar attitude towards domestic Palestinian politics. Since its coup against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Gaza in June 2007, Hamas has not only been seeking to monopolise power; but has also tried to silence opposition voices, destroy rivals and use all sort of torture techniques to rule and control.

Obsessed

It became obsessed with Islamising the Palestinian society and in building up its power base by force very often. Instead of focusing on the occupation and its ramifications, Hamas got involved in a systematic process to undermine the PA and destroy the very institutions that brought it to power.

Two years of power struggle with Fattah and the PA's Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has in fact eroded the support the Islamic movement once enjoyed. Hamas's inability to fight corruption and provide social services to exhausted Palestinians by two years long boycott has also hurt the Islamic movement's popularity inside the Palestinian territories and out.

Hamas has had the opportunity to provide a model to Islam in power; that opportunity has been unduly missed.

Dr Marwan Kabalan is a lecturer in media and international relations, Faculty of Political Science and Media, Damascus University, Syria.