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A Great Misunderstanding About the Hamas Victory

(New York Sun) Fiamma Nirenstein - I went to the West Bank to report on and interview Palestinian Arabs before, during, and after the elections. In the market of Hebron, a pretty woman, Raeda, 22, with a veil down to her eyebrows, told me she prefers Hamas because it's a religious party that will reestablish Islamic rule on all the land occupied by the Jews. With a lovely smile she also told me that she wouldn't mind if her son becomes a martyr. A group of children told me, almost singing, that: "Religion says that there is no peace with the infidels." Where did they learn that? At school. What do they think about martyrs? All of them want to be one. It's a pathetic joke to try to launder the Hamas victory as if the Palestinian Arabs simply wanted to vote against PA corruption. From what I saw and heard, it was an Islamist and violent vote, with deep cultural roots in the Palestinian education system and in the messages of the Palestinian Arab leadership during the intifada. The reality is that secularism has declined since the 1970s. No statement renouncing violence or terror or acknowledging Israel's right to exist can cancel out the religious and violence-oriented education of the past decade that culminated in the election.
2006-02-15 00:00:00
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