Apportioning Responsibility
It should not be surprising, but yet it is. Surprising and welcomed. That a highly-placed Hamas spokesman finally described the matter of Palestinian blame for their peoples' appalling condition and responsibility to themselves, their people, their part in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is past time. Mr. Hamad's declarations of disgust at the situation of lack of self-awareness, and spiral into death and destruction are welcomed and certainly about time. It's a first step to sanity, to logical regard, to self-respect, to reality.Ghazi Hamad states rhetorically, the unfathomable conditions that outsiders, those with unblinkered vision, have been realizing for quite a long time:
"When you walk in the streets of Gaza city, you cannot but close your eyes because of what you see there: unimaginable chaos, careless policemen, young men carrying guns and strutting with pride, and families receiving condolences for their dead in the middle of the street."He speaks undeniable truth. Nature abhors a vacuum, and with no viable, respected leadership Palestinians have brought unspeakable anarchy to bear. Where there was opportunity to be a proud people, to build their own state and their own economy, to take responsibility for their own welfare, it has been rejected. In favour of lawlessness, of anger and enmity, of everlasting vows to destroy the enemy. But it wasn't the so-called enemy that brought the Palestinians to their present state of crisis. The enemy's intent and offer was to assist them in securing sovereignty, the responsibility of self-reliance and self-direction and self-pride. Rejected out of hand. Such is the power of hatred.
So when Mr. Hamad asked:
"What is the relationship between the chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, indiscriminate murders, theft of land, family rivalries, trangression on public lands and unorganized traffic, and the occupation? We are still trapped by the mentality of conspiracy theories - one that has limited our capability to think."Exactly, and kudoes to Mr. Hamad for hammering that nail home. Pity, isn't it, that no one who should be hearing his words and digesting them, and discussing them, and learning from them is actually listening. He has certainly earned my (limited) respect, and no doubt that of others outside of the Gaza Strip and the the West Bank, but what has been the response of Palestinians?
Well, one reads further that the determination of the Palestinian intifada is undimmed; rather it has been rekindled with additional fervour in the wake of the "victory" and perceived unbridled success of Hezbollah in totally incapacitating and quelling the Jewish State. Palestinians, Fatah and Hamas alike, along with Islamic Jihad and others of their ilk, now are dedicating themselves to the utility of underground tunnels and bunkers, the storage of heavy-duty munitions and continued rocketing of Israel.
Mr. Hamad, do us all a favour. SPEAK LOUDER. Shout, berate, insult, rail, and keep addressing the issues. While you're doing that, do something concrete about the chaos; you're part of the government. Disarm the irregular militias; they are, after all, comprised also of your own people. If you feel so seriously about the topic at hand, and from your words it would seem you do, then go ahead and do more than talk.
If not you, then who?
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, August 31, 2006
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