A Great Misunderstanding About the Hamas Victory

I went to the West Bank to report on and interview Palestinian Arabs before,during, and after the elections. In the market of Hebron, a pretty woman,Raeda, 22, with a veil down to her eyebrows, told me she prefers Hamas becauseit's a religious party that will reestablish Islamic rule on all the landoccupied by the Jews. With a lovely smile she also told me that she wouldn'tmind if her son becomes a martyr. A group of children told me, almost singing,that: "Religion says that there is no peace with the infidels." Where didthey learn that? At school. What do they think about martyrs? All of themwant to be one.
It's a pathetic joke to try to launder the Hamas victoryas if the Palestinian Arabs simply wanted to vote against PA corruption.From what I saw and heard, it was an Islamist and violent vote, with deepcultural roots in the Palestinian education system and in the messages ofthe Palestinian Arab leadership during the intifada. The reality is thatsecularism has declined since the 1970s. No statement renouncing violenceor terror or acknowledging Israel's right to exist can cancel out the religiousand violence-oriented education of the past decade that culminated in theelection.

originally by Fiamma Nirenstein (New York Sun)

above exerpt taken from the
Daily Alert
Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs