Abbas [singing]: Oh Hamas! You repaid my abuse with raw hatred. But I need you today. Oh Hamas! When you blew up some Jews and you framed me. So they locked me away...

Maybe it's my recent re-reading of Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich talking, but someone stop me if I am crazy in seeing a few hard and fast similarities between Hamas and the late-1920s/early-1930s Nazi Party:

- both elected during times of minimal government control of the territory and in an area with a "poor" economic prospects, at best

- both groups gained fame as organizations for street thugs through open and unabashed violence

- both love a good outdoor ralley with pretty flags, weapons, and nationalistic chanting

- both love artistic posters in public places

- both appealed to the population with the promotion of territorial unification and seeking retribution against the Jews

- both were hoped to be "toned down" through elections and elevation within democratic offices, as world leaders rationalized that previous thuggish activities could never play well from a ruling government

Then again, there is one dissimilarity that really hits me. In November 1932, the last election before Hitler became Chancellor and the Nazis truly solidified power, the NSDAP only had 33.6% of parlimentary seats (down from the previous July, in which the Nazi held their greatest Weimar-era seat percentage at 37.8%). It seems that Hamas picked up about 57.5% of seats, with 76 out of 132.

I'm just sayin', is all.

Posted by: wineaholic at 01:30 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 258 words, total size 2 kb.

While most Middle Eastern news outlets still have stories posted projecting a Fatah victory based on exit polling, a few have reacted to the real story. These two, from opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian fence, offer similar Pollyanna takes:

al Jazeera sees a tiny ray of sunshine:

And in a first sign of pragmatism, Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, said the group would extend its year-old truce if Israel reciprocates. "If not, then I think we will have no option but to protect our people and our land," he said.

"Now that they are in power, Hamas will have to take responsibility for the future. They will have to become more moderate. Now they are part of the democratic game and they will have to play by the democratic rules," Siniora said.

Siniora, a 69-year-old east Jerusalemite Christian, is publisher of The Jerusalem Times and a co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. An early proponent of negotiations with Israel, he has long been involved in pro-peace activities. He was one of seven candidates contending for one of the two seats reserved for Christians in the Jerusalem district, but is unlikely to win the seat.

What's left are the dregs, mentally damaged barbarians who have bred a sick, twisted culture based on celebrating terrorist acts. What else can you say about a society that deifies degenerates who deliberately seek out children to murder?

Are there enough intelligent, mentally healthy Palestinians left to build a civilized society? I don't think so, but I'd be very glad to be proved wrong.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto .

Posted by: Bluto at 12:34 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 337 words, total size 2 kb.

With generations of Jew-hating suicide bombers as members, Hamas has been perceived as a group of fanatical murderers. This apparently conflicts with a desire to be seen as a peaceful community outreach organization. As a result, Hamas has hired a spin doctor to establish a new image among the Europeans and Americans.

From the Guardian:

The organisation, also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, has hired a media consultant, Nashat Aqtash, to improve its image at home and abroad because it expects to emerge from next week's Palestinian general election as a major political force, and wants recognition and acceptance by the US and EU.

"Hamas has an image problem. The Israelis were able to create a very bad image of the Palestinians in general and particularly Muslims and Hamas. My contract is to project the right image," said Mr Aqtash, who also teaches media at Birzeit University in Ramallah.

Aqtash has encouraged Hamas' leaders to quit saying they want to destroy Israel and to stop celebrating suicide bombings. Unfortunately, the destruction of Israel is in the founding charter of Hamas. Take it away and there is no reason for Hamas to exist. With regard to stopping celebrations after murders, good luck. Hamas has successfully created a whole culture centered on weapons, explosives, and hatred of Jews.

Nevertheless, Mr. Aqtash will reportedly get $180,000 for his efforts. It's not clear whether he has to achieve results to get paid. On a related note, if Mr. Aqtash is getting paid to paint Hamas in a positive light, one has to wonder how much the BBC, Reuters, NYTimes, WaPo, Ass. Press and others are collecting.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 05:58 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 307 words, total size 2 kb.