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| Hamas’s election and the Implications on the Israeli State’s legitimacy |
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Given these religious beliefs and the way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is viewed in the Muslim world, it is not therefore unsurprising that many Muslims continue to consider Israel an illegitimate state, regardless of the extent of its international support. Furthermore the existence of these religious beliefs also help engender a mindset in which many Palestinians and Muslims do not accept that they have been permanently defeated at the hands of the Israeli army. Whereas some secular Palestinians such as the PLO have accepted the state of Israel, most view the previous military engagements fought between the Arabs and the Israelis as mere battles in a conflict that still continues. The proof that this mindset exists and is widespread comes from the massive support that Muslims in the region have given Islamic groups such as Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah whom all reject the Oslo peace framework – the only terms for peace on which Israel has been prepared to negotiate. Many western and Arab columnists agree that Islamic parties, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, would come to power if free and fair elections were allowed to take place.
The psychology of the Arabs who live in the occupied territories and in the countries that neighbour Israel is analogous to the Iraqis who are still resisting coalition forces in Iraq. In 2003, the United States military comprehensively defeated the Iraqi armed forces on the battlefield on the road to Baghdad. During the campaign, the US used a deliberate strategy of “shock and awe” terrorising tactics as a way of making potential adversaries realise that opposition to them was futile. Three years on, and despite the presence of over 140,000 American troops, the number of Iraqis who do not accept defeat is on the rise. The majority of the resistance continually persists in mounting small scale guerrilla attacks against the US army, even though they realise they cannot defeat the US militarily. While increasing numbers of the resistance do not feel that they have been defeated, the Americans remain in trouble. Added to this is the large popular support they draw from sections of the Iraqi society who increasingly see the occupation as coercive and bloody. Hence, the small-scale guerrilla war that is taking place will continue indefinitely until the US withdraws, irrespective of the statements or policies of the Iraqi government. In contrast, at the end of the Second World War, there was near unanimity in German and Japanese societies that the Allies had won the war. As a result, both nations accepted this defeat as their own (rather than attribute defeat to Hitler or the Emperor) and hence there was little or no resistance to the US occupation of Germany after the formal surrender of German forces. In contrast, most Iraqis believe the defeat of Saddam began the chapter of resistance.
Despite Israel’s clear domination and control over the occupied territories for the last three decades, Israeli policymakers have failed to convince large segments of Palestinian society that resistance is futile and that peace should be accepted on Israeli terms. Similar to the US’s “shock and awe” tactics in Iraq, Israeli demonstrations of military strength and their actions against collective Palestinian society, following any Palestinian attack in Israel, does not deter others from carrying out further attacks or change Palestinian attitudes in Israel’s favour. Instead, such actions increasingly harden the desire of many Palestinians and the wider Muslim world to stand up to Israeli brutality.
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