Hamas Rule Does Not Live Up To The Romanticized Picture Of The Left

As I have written before, Hamas may be known as Gaza's freely elected government, but not as Gaza's freely re-elected government. This is a point that has also been made by Legal Insurrection:

While Hamas came to power through elections, it never will leave through elections. Hamas will kill or drive out all opposition, even if it means throwing people from roof tops as it did to Fatah members after Hamas took control. The model for Hamas is Iran, which has "democratic" elections but bans thousands of opposition candidates and arrests and kills opponents.

If you really need verification of the exaggerated claim of Hamas's popularity, you need only turn to Amira Hass, who writes of Hamas's need to break up demonstrations as an example of What Hamas Is Really Afraid Of:

"I wish these pictures reached leftists abroad," my friend said to herself Tuesday as she watched Hamas police use rifle butts and clubs to beat her friends - activists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Although my friend has never been a fan of the Fatah government in the West Bank, she is outraged by the romanticization of Hamas rule by foreign activists.

Photographs of Tuesday's protest will be hard to come by, as the Hamas police prevented photojournalists from doing their job. At some point, shots were fired into the air to disperse the PFLP protesters in Gaza City, a demonstration Hamas called an illegal gathering. Many protesters were injured and needed medical attention; others were detained for some time.

The subtitle of the article is:

Hamas suppression of any Gaza protest that it sees fit shows that the Islamic movement ruling Gaza is in dire need for some public support.

Hmmm, looks like somebody needs a hug.

But the shamelessly brutal suppression of the protest shows just how scared the Gaza government is. It has suppressed all activities by Fatah in the Strip, be it public or internal.

Last week, it prevented a protest by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the al-Maghazi refugee camp, also based on the electricity crisis. It even banned a celebration by the Khan Yunis refugee committee for students who passed their matriculation exams.

This is because any activity not controlled by Hamas or protesting the Israeli siege is defined as a threat to the movement's rule. If Hamas felt it still had public support, it wouldn't need to suppress any activity that it didn't initiate or finds unflattering.

So while Fatah may fear the inroads Hamas may make in the West Bank during an election, back in Gaza--Hamas is the devil the Gazans know, and they don't seem very happy about that.

Hat tip: Evelyn Gordon

Technorati Tag: Gaza and Hamas.