Hamas

I usually don't get too involved in the politics of the Middle East unless it is something really big, like Lebanon's nationalist movement that shook off Syrian political domination, or really scary like anti-Semitism in Iran. The events of this week, by which I mean the Hamas led coup in Gaza with all the barbaric carnivality of parading bodies of Fatah fighters through the street, scares me and takes away some of my hope for peace.

I am by no means a fan of Israel, but I am hard pressed to find an answer when asked which type of terrorism is worse, state terrorism or fundamentalist terrorism. State terrorism, like that of Israel or Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe is awful because it is being excused and ignored on the international stage. Fundamentalist terrorism is awful because it is a perversion of religion. I had high hopes for the Abbas government, and they continued to compromise and reason with Hamas militants, even ceding control of part of the government. I still have the hope that Palestine will have a government, a real government for a real state, that is not reactionary and has does not have the explicit goal of destroying its neighbor. Though given the history of heinous Israeli violence against Palestinians I can see why Hamas is popular in Palestine. Hamas claimed Abbas had driven them to do this, I've heard that before, excusing similar violence. I don't like what I've been hearing.