"From the start, the Hamas 'brotherhood' showed no interest in the concept of the state inasmuch as it was keen about the concept of the Ummah."

Tariq Alhomayed's essays are usually fascinating. This is very critical of the US, but it is hard to imagine many Western commentators so frankly stating what Hamas is about:

[...] It has become impossible to talk about the dream of a Palestinian state so long as the Palestinian issue remains stifled at the Rafah crossing, but is this strange? Of course not! From the start, the Hamas 'brotherhood' showed no interest in the concept of the state inasmuch as it was keen about the concept of the Ummah. This means that it views the fall of Arab regimes as something that should not be lamented – provided that the goal is to attain a united Islamic state.

This is notwithstanding the fact that anyone questioning or responding to Hamas or addressing its brotherhood cloak is immediately accused of working for the US. This is the fundamental strategy employed by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), which is to eliminate all Arab states so that the Ummah may emerge.

And yet, the ones who have benefited the most in the last few years from America's presence in our Arab region have been Hamas and the MB. Their electoral achievements in Palestine and Egypt came while riding on the shoulders of Condoleezza Rice – who admitted a few days ago in Davos that there had been mistakes, by which she meant the democratic process in the region.

Prior to the Palestinian elections that brought Hamas to power and under intense US pressure to run Palestinian elections, US President George W. Bush looked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the eye during their meeting in the Oval Office and said, if you elect someone from Hamas to be in charge of the Gaza municipality, don't you think that he will clean up the city and abandon military operations to become more concerned with people's interests? And with that, Abu Mazen's hands were tied because Washington did not know Hamas well.

After Hamas reached power through elections and pressure from George Bush, it declared its rejection of the Oslo Accords and the conventions signed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) – in fact, Hamas took arms up against Abu Mazen after the Mecca agreement and yet today, anyone who opposes it is dubbed an American!

The same applies to the 'mother' party, The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood which recently attacked the US president during his last visit to Sharm al Sheikh and hinted that they were displeased with the manner by which the Gulf countries had greeted their guest, forgetting that had it not been for the immense US pressure they would not have had such a strong presence in the Egyptian parliament. Moreover, Mr. Nabil Shaath would not have demanded the counsel of the MB in Egypt to resolve the Rafah crossing issue with Hamas if it had not been for that pressure. [...]

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Hamas, Gaza, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood