Campaign activists race in and out of the office of one of the Fatah "rebels" who broke away from Fatah last week and hastily drew up a competing list called Al-Mustaqbal ("The Future"). Marwan Barghouti, serving out a life sentence, heads the list. Our host invites us to take a look at the Fatah and Mustaqbal lists, and compare them. "Very weak," he says with unconcealed satisfaction, perusing the list of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala). In the same breath he makes it clear that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) recognizes both lists as belonging to Fatah, thereby mending any potential internal party rifts. The platform is basically the same: two states for the two peoples, achieved through negotiation (although Mustaqbal emphasizes negotiation and struggle). The difference, he says: One is in favor of using democratic procedures and the other prefers the old methods.
Between phone calls, then "rebel" manages to exchange a few words with three supporters from villages west of Ramallah. After the first call, they trade compliments. After the second, they mention something about Hamas supporters working hard in their district. After the third, they comment, "We have religious people in our village who don't vote Hamas, but the neighboring village has nonreligious people who do vote Hamas." By the fourth call, they give up on describing the political differences in their district and commenting on the strength of Hamas. They use the short breather until the next ring to take care of some business.
A little later, at an office of the official Fatah party, activists complain about the rebel list and how the split has weakened the movement. Someone in the room talks about a call he had from a friend in Nablus. The brother of this Nablus friend was a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. He served time in prison and supported Fatah before being killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers. The caller was apologetic, but frank. He had voted for Hamas in the municipal elections, he said. No wonder Hamas won 13 of the 15 municipal council seats there.
 |
Advertisement |
|
One Hamas voice
None of this surprises Munir, a Hamas activist and former member of Fatah. "Some of my friends who belong to Fatah were as happy about our winning the municipal elections as I was. 'We had it coming,' they said. 'The people saw our corrupt officials and dishonesty, and they decided to punish us.' It?s no secret. Fatah has been open about it, even to the media."
"I've heard that word 'punishment' used by quite a few people over the last few weeks," says Bashir, who works for an international organization monitoring the Palestinian local and general elections. In one electoral district, people accused a certain Fatah delegate in the legislative council of not watching out for their interests. They voted for him in 1996, but he never showed his face again. All he did was take care of his own village and make sure that members of his clan got jobs in the PA. We?ll punish him, they said, by not voting for his party. In Jenin, Fatah supporters told Bashir they would vote for other lists - Hamas in particular - as a punishment for all the squabbling and infighting, and for the refusal of the "old guard" to give up their seats to others.
In the local council elections, Fatah ran on a whole slew of lists, under a whole slew of names. Hamas ran on one ticket and used a single name: the Change and Reform List. It used the same name in the general elections. "We vote however we want," says a worried Fatah activist. "For them, voting is the same as obeying a fatwa (religious ruling). They go to the mosque, listen to a sermon and are instructed to vote for their list. We speak in different voices. For them, there's only one."
Munir is not an official Hamas spokesman. He insists that he speaks only "for himself." But his ongoing patter demonstrates that the voice of Hamas is indeed "one voice." Munir is the only Hamas man in his family. Up until 15 years ago, he was a Fatah operative. When he was 13 and a half, he was arrested and sentenced to four years in jail for throwing Molotov cocktails. During the first intifada he was held in administrative detention for two years. When he got out of prison, he quit Fatah and joined Hamas. He says he was always religious, but because there was no religious movement fighting the occupation in the second half of the 1980s, joining Fatah was natural. A few months ago, he was released from an Israeli jail after serving another 15 years as a Hamas operative. His brothers are not religious. In the elections for chairmanship of the PA, they voted for the independent candidate, Mustafa Barghouti. Munir hasn?t asked them who they plan to vote for in the general elections, but he is sure they won?t vote for Fatah.
"Because our people realizes that the Palestinian leadership used us for its own purposes," he says. "They only cared about bettering themselves. A whole decade of Oslo only made things worse. So now that we are being given our first democratic opportunity, the people will vote for change. Because our people always go for the best candidates and those whose hands are clean."
The worried thief
Does this mean that people will be voting more in protest than out of any sweeping support for Hamas' political platform? Munir, born in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Ramallah, answers confidently.
"We are Muslims," he says, "and we vote for Islam because Islam is the solution - on every level. It's important that you write this down exactly as I say. From a religious perspective, Muslims cannot legitimize a State of Israel in this region. The Islamic movement would lose its identity if it recognized Israel as a state."
So you are confirming Israeli fears that an Islamic-Palestinian state will never stop fighting against Israel's existence?
Munir: "Israel has atom bombs. It's the strongest country in the region and one of the military superpowers of the world. But the fellahin have a proverb: A thief is always worried. Israel is strong, but it is worried anyway. As a political observer, let me tell you: Israel's best bet is to lay low, stop threatening us and the neighboring countries, and give the Palestinians back some of their rights. In practice, Israel exists. It took over 78 percent of Palestine. Israel doesn't need us to recognize it."
And let's say a two-state solution is reached, returning to the June 4, 1967 borders?
"There is no one on the Israeli political map, even on the left, who supports evacuating all the settlements and going back to the 1967 borders."
And if Hamas wins enough votes in the general elections to lead the Palestinian people, will it devote itself entirely, from then on, to armed struggle against the State of Israel? Is that what you want?
"Israel has to restore the rights of the Palestinian people. Only when it does that will Israel have the right to ask about Hamas."
So the entire Palestinian nation is in favor of all-out armed conflict?
"Hamas proposed a hudna (cease-fire), which is a political initiative. It is participating in the socio-political process. Resistance is only one of many tools. It's not a way of life. We're not against having some of our rights restored. We said 'ahlan wasahalan' ('Welcome') when Israel left Gaza. When it leaves the West Bank, we'll say it again. We are not against withdrawal. But the Islamic movement cannot recognize the State of Israel."
Do you support the Iranian president's demand that the Jews be expelled from the Middle East?
"My roots are in the village of Anaba, near Ramle. My mother, my father, my grandfather and their ancestors are from there. All our property is there. There is no way that I, or my children, or my grandchildren, will forget that, just because the name has changed."
But the opinion polls show that the Palestinians accept a two-state solution.
"We tried other, non-Islamic solutions, but they failed. What remains is the global reality in which the rich live off the masses. People remember that historically, under Islamic rule, there was justice and social and political security."
When was that?
"During the period of the caliphs; in Spain."
But what about Iran and Afghanistan? Here are contemporary examples of Islamic regimes that don?t offer justice or social security.
"America runs Afghanistan today."
The Taliban were there before them.
"We're not the Taliban. Obviously, Muslims can be wrong, too. We're not against freedom for women. You won't find a secular government anywhere that respects women more than Islam. We always have women on our lists. Not because there are legal quotas for women, but because that is the way of Islam. Islam encourages women to play a role in society. But it's true: Some branches of Islam are misguided in their thinking, and the bad impression they make is projected onto Islam as a whole. Iran is an example of the Shi'ite school. But even with all its mistakes, I would choose this government over the shah."
The fear is that if Hamas comes to power, it will impose all kinds of prohibitions on the public. This is what happened in Qalqilyah. When an Islamic council was elected, it banned a performance that would have drawn a mixed crowd of men and women.
"Every movement has its own mindset. If people vote for a certain party, they expect this party to represent them. I don't see anything wrong with the Reform and Change Party introducing law reforms if it wins. Religion is not about coercion. It?s about acceptance."
Not long ago, I heard two women describing their suffering under the Israeli occupation. Members of the families were killed; houses were demolished or sealed up; relatives were sent to jail for long periods of time; people were beaten; soldiers searched their homes every night. One of them said: "Never mind. In the next world God will punish those who have wronged us." My conclusion was that religious faith somehow balances out the despair.
"No. People don't turn to religion out of despair. Palestinians are religious by nature. They are what you call mesorati [Munir uses the Hebrew word] − traditional. An overwhelming majority are mesorati. And secondly, the PA may have failed, but in the meantime, the Palestinians have grown up. This process of maturation has led them to seek a better alternative."
|
