Hamas- The popular movement in Palestinian circles
The fundamentalist Hamas movement is clearly the most popular political party in the eyes of Palestinian Arabs. They are in complete control of the Gaza strip after elections and overthrow of the head of the fatah movement Machmoud Abbas. In a seemingly counterintuitive stance the poorer the population becomes the more popular the Hamas becomes. Two current events are strengthening even more Hamas in the Gaza Strip and West bank. In the west bank thousands marched in protest of the death of a Hamas detainee Majed Barghouti. Hamas supporters claim he was tortured to death whereas the ruling Fatah claim he was a sick man who just died of natural causes. He was only 44. This open massive support of Hamas in the Fatah ruled West Bank is unusual but not surprising. Many think that Hamas would completely take over the strip if the Israeli army would not have its forces all over the west bank, making many strong supporters of the Hamas. In the Gaza strip a different more potentially volatile demonstration is happening. The human chain that is planned around the strip may turn into a surge on the Israeli border. A similar surge a number of weeks ago broke down the barrier wall between the strip and Egypt.
The Hamas for its part officially said that it was not interested in direct conflict with the Israeli army at this time. Whether the Hamas is sincere or not in its avoiding conflict no one is sure how this human chain will play out. For its part Israel is not taking any chances giving orders to shoot live ammunition if the chain turns violent and toward Israel. If this would happen this could be a spark that could ignite the entire middle east again much as Ariel Sharon’s Visit to the temple mount did about 9 years ago.
