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| The Challenges Facing Hamas |
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Mohammed Hussain
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Not only is the US caught in a quagmire in Iraq but it also has to decide what to do with the question of Iran’s apparent defiance and flouting of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. On the other hand, the US may be secretly quite pleased at the Saudi receptiveness of Hamas. The Saudi’s are a close US ally and there is a distinct possibility that their relationship with Hamas, if not directly motivated by the Americans, has at least tacit approval and blessing. Given western powers may be seeking to pursue a path of controlled engagement, assuming reciprocation on the part of Hamas, it is easier for that relationship to be developed by a third party when, as in this case, public opinion does not allow for acknowledgement and direct dealings. The west will be hoping it can coax Hamas closer to the mainstream, at which point objections against an open relationship will be muted. In that sense, for anyone familiar with the history and transformation of the former Palestinian Liberation Organisation, there is bound to be an acute sense of déjà vu.
In addition to the rhetoric coming from Hamas that it is willing to be flexible, there is concrete evidence that the group is willing to gamble and risk alienating a segment of its support. It seems that Hamas is prepared to allow political expediency to override its principles (Islamic or otherwise) when it feels the need arises. For instance, the group has been happy to travel to Russia and meet with officials there, despite the latter’s persecution of the Chechen people. An indication that the concern for solidarity with its Muslim brethren is perhaps lower on the scale than one would initially have expected. Similarly, Hamas officials were at pains to reject the call by Al-Qaeda number two, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, to abandon previously concluded peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and continue a violent struggle. Rather they maintained their independence as a group with only the interests of the Palestinian people at heart. Were their outlook truly global and based on a strictly Islamic basis, it is unlikely Hamas would have felt it necessary to build a relationship with Russia, despite the precarious situation it finds itself in. After all, Hamas may well view the current circumstances as sufficiently exceptional enough to allow it the scope for a more pragmatic approach. Whether pragmatism holds sway beyond the short term is another question. The Hamas leadership must be conscious of the need to balance immediate foreign policy concerns with longer-term international relations consistent with Islamic ideals. This in itself is yet another conundrum that has to be faced and dealt with successfully.
Conclusion
If Hamas is to ride out the storm, the determining factor will be its ability to confront these new challenges in a manner that leaves its credibility on the Palestinian street intact. That, after all, has always been the bedrock of Hamas’ support. It was the extensive work that Hamas did for years, at a grass roots level that eventually paid off. Whatever the perceptions external to the Middle East, Hamas is not painted by many Arabs with the same brush of ineptitude and corruption that applies in the case of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority. That at least is a comfort of sorts. But, though it may have a clean bill of health from many Palestinians for now, the mood on the often volatile alleyways of Gaza and the West Bank is liable to change should the Palestinian predicament continue to worsen under the auspices of the men now in charge.
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