(UPI) Claude Salhani - Is a successful Hamas really in the interest of anyone other than Hamas? From the Israeli perspective, it is highly illogical for the Jewish state to look at a successful Hamas administration positively. Hamas has repeatedly said it would accept a truce, but not peace, with Israel. From Fatah's perspective, a successful Hamas would hurt that Palestinian movement even more. The best Fatah can hope for is for Hamas to stumble and fail, while it tries to reorganize and regroup. From the Arab perspective, a smoothly run Hamas operation in the PA is likely to frighten a number of Arab governments where Islamist groups have recently been making steady headway, including Egypt, where the banned Muslim Brotherhood made considerable gains in the recent elections. In Syria, notwithstanding Damascus' unfaltering support for the Palestinian Islamist movement - Hamas' military wing is based in the Syrian capital - the Syrian regime is quite wary of any progress made by Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, which is gaining popularity faster than any other political group in the country. Jordan, too, has been struggling with its own brand of Islamists over the years.
2006-02-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive