Der Spiegel International published an article recently about the positive public relations spectacles being put forward by the new Hamas government in Gaza. It is interesting to watch the actions taken by Hamas once faced with running a government. The rest of the Middle East is undoubtedly watching, because if the everyday responsibilities of providing good governance manage to make Hamas more sensible, Gaza could serve as a model for incorporating radical elements throughout the region.
The potential for a split between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, a la East and West Pakistan, gained substantial momentum after elections in 2006 produced Hamas victories in Gaza and Fatah victories in West Bank. Many analysts simply claimed that Fatah ran too many candidates in Gaza, and that this bad decision combined with protest votes proved to be their undoing. Others claimed that this proved the necessity of keeping both areas united through some sort of auto or train corridor. Few expected that the possibility of division would manifest itself so quickly.
Yet, now that Hamas has taken control, a completely new set of problems has arisen. They have to provide security and utilities, collect taxes and spend them effectively. Fareed Zakaria suggested in his book, The Future of Freedom, that radical elements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas be incorporated into governments so that the practicalities of running a country would temper their hard-line agendas. After Fatah refused to hand over the reins to Hamas, Hamas took control for itself. We will have to wait and see whether Zakaria’s idea of moderation comes true.
For now, Hamas PR Advisor Ahmed Yussuf says that Hamas is much less like the Taliban in Afghanistan and more like Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Except that Erdogan isn’t associated with suicide bombers and hasn’t called for Israel to be wiped off the map. While Yussuf’s statements might simply be pretty-talk with the hopes of luring foreign capital into the empty coffers of a desperate Hamas government, it could signal a positive change regardless. While poverty often breeds radicalism, it can also force pragmatism. In order to prevent a popular uprising against itself by Palestinians regretting ever having voted them into power, Hamas will have to provide results. If it wants any help from the West, it will have to make itself look a lot more like Erdogan, and that would be a notable development.
Such a development would impact the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Islamist groups throughout the Middle East. This would be no End of History or Democratic Victory, but it could provide a useful example to other countries. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Egypt might try to crush the experiment in its infancy to prevent that example from happening.
The Der Spiegel article is here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,493812,00.html
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