and the BBC, I could find plenty of articles mentioning Hamas. One article cites Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describing Hamas as "not only a terrorist organization but...increasingly a client of Iran". Another article will mention Obama's unwillingness to deal with Hamas, even if they did send him a personal letter. But one thing you will rarely hear in the West is the voice of Hamas itself. The only recent articles I could find quoting Hamas officials were simply about the announcement of ceasefires . Since three of the four members of the so-called "Quartet" of intl. mediators (the U.S., E.U., and U.N.) refuse to communicate with Hamas "terrorists", it seems that the Western public is also not allowed to access their point of view.
So I was curious to know if it would be any different with Russia, the one member of the Quartet
that does maintain ties with Hamas. Here is some of the evidence I found that Hamas is treated differently in the Russian media (which is mostly state-controlled, by the way, and falls into line with govt. policy). For example, this new article from RIA Novosti ("Russian Information Agency News", one of if not the biggest news source in the country) talks about how Hamas officials have called on the Intl. Criminal Court to issue an order for the arrest of Israeli leaders like Shimon Peres, Ekhud Barak, Ekhud Olmert, and Benjamin Netanyahu (all this comes on the heels of the ICC's indictment of Sudan's president for crimes against humanity). Unfortunately, there isn't an English version of the article, but I'll translate the heart of it:"In an announcement, Hamas said that the ICC should issue an order for the arrest not of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, but for the leaders of Israel, guilty of crimes against the nations of Palestine and Lebanon...During the recent war with Israel, 1300 people, including a few hundred children, were killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza. About 1400 people, the majority of them peaceful civilians, became victims of Israel's war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. According to Hamas, the 'unjust' decision of the ICC...is yet more evidence that 'with every day the UN is increasingly turning into a tool in the hands of strong states, primarily the U.S.' and serves their interest 'at the cost of weak nations'...."
Here is another article, concerning the recent intl. conference on foreign aid and the reconstruction of Gaza (to which Hamas was not invited). Translated excerpt:
"...'Ignoring the legal power that exists in Gaza [i.e. Hamas] may be seen as a deliberate frustration of the efforts at reconstructing the region,' said official Hamas representative Fauzi Barkhum, whose words were broadcast by the Arab media. According to him, Palestinians consider the aid a humanitarian action and ask that politicization of the question be avoided...In the opinion of observers, the beginning of work on Gaza's reconstruction could get held up, despite all the international efforts, because of the Israeli blockade of the enclave and internal Palestinian antagonisms. ...According to Makhmud Abbas, the international aid should be put at the disposal of the Palestinian Admin. on the West Bank. At the same time, representatives of Hamas believe that the intl. aid should be given directly to those who are governing Gaza..."
At first, I was totally perplexed why Russia would recognize Hamas as a legitimate force in Palestine since they have the same negative discourse about "Islamic terrorism" that we have (recall the protracted debacle with guerilla separatists in Chechnya). Perhaps this is part of Russia's attempt to re-assert its role as a world superpower and a counter-point to the influence of America and her Western allies? Or maybe it's part of a practical solution, as Russian officials claim: "the reconstruction of Palestinian unity is necessary in order to decide urgent questions regarding the overcoming of the destructive consequences of the recent bloodshed in Gaza and, above all, for the attainment of a lasting truce."
Regardless of the motive, articles like these show that currently Hamas is not dismissed (and hence silenced) as a terrorist organization in Russia; nor is the "Arab media" spurned as a tool of the terrorists--it is cited as a source like any other. I would hardly argue that Russia's media is free and progressive, but here is at least a willingness to listen to "the other side" (officially, Russia supports Abbas's regime) and report their point of view to non-Middle Eastern audiences.
That is really interesting. For some odd reason I wouldn't have thought to look at the Russian response to the conflict in Gaza (then again, I don't speak or read Russian). I know that prior to the end of the cold war, Russian/Soviet support of Arab nations in the Middle East was rather prevalent but "forgot" about the role of Russia in the current situations in the Middle East/ Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
ReplyDeleteThe silencing of Hamas in the West probably comes from its associations as a terrorist organization, despite the political and social aspects of the organization (which is why it has such popular support in Gaza). Plus, Hamas is considered an extremist organization, which in most Western minds (mine included at times) implies terrorist.
The conception of terrorist is interesting itself. While Hamas is identified as a terrorist organization, no one in the mainstream Western media would identify the actions Israel has taken against Gaza as state terrorism. Nor would the West be expected to make this connection as support for Israel is prominent.
The point on the ICC is rather interesting. A vast amount of UN Security Council resolutions have been directed toward Israel, including Human Rights violations in the Occupied Territories. Israel has ignored the vast majority of these. If another state ignored UN Security Council resolutions to the same extent (or even a lesser extent), they would be punished through sanctions and other means. Yet Israel is permitted to ignore and violate various resolutions and rules. Given this history as well as the general Western (blind) support of Israel, the ICC would never indict any Israeli leader.
This is a perfect example of American national-centrism (which we are all guilty--this isn't a criticism of Natasha :>). This is a part of why I specifically asked you to look far and wide in your searching for media. We forget how important OTHER countries can be to brokering a solution (Madrid/Oslo?!?). What about the French? Or the Chinese? as well as the Russians....
ReplyDeleteI've recently seen a youtube video highlighting the Prime Minister of Turkey's reaction to Israel's justification of the Gaza strike. Turkey isn't a big power, but it was a notably moderate voice in the conflict... up until their Prime Minister walked off during a discussion in Davos.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ikcdAAwbGs
I happened across a NY Times video recently that impressed upon me the necessity of recognizing Hamas as a political force that needs to be dealt with openly rather shunned by any mediators in the conflict:
ReplyDeletehttp://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/12/world/1231544992532/anger-rises-in-the-west-bank.html
The clip shows that Hamas is not just a Gaza phenomenon. They are also gaining increasing popularity in the West Bank, where many Palestinians are tired of the PA's evidently futile stream of "talks" and "meetings" and yearn for a government that is willing to struggle more actively for Palestinian rights. Although Palestinians in places like Ramallah are nominally "better off" than their brothers in Gaza, it is clear that they feel a strong solidarity with the residents of the beleaguered enclave. Even if Palestine has been geographically and administratively "divided" into two regions, there is not such a deep split at the populist level. And with popular sentiment leaning towards Hamas, there is no way that international mediators can deal with the conflict and ignore Hamas, unless they also ignore the Palestinian people.