The Prototypical Hamas Moderate

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority government, seems to be a voice of reason in an area sorely lacking in rationality.

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.

It is not description of the chaos in Gaza that is novel--it is whom he holds responsible.

Dismissing Israel's responsibility for the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, Hamad said it was time for the Palestinians to embark on a soul-searching process to see where they erred.

"We're always afraid to talk about our mistakes," he added. "We're used to blaming our mistakes on others. What is the relationship between the chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, indiscriminate murders, theft of land, family rivalries, transgression 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."

Hamad admitted that the Palestinians have failed in developing the Gaza Strip following the Israeli withdrawal and in imposing law and order. He said about 500 Palestinians have been killed and 3,000 wounded since the Israeli pullout, in addition to the destruction of much of the infrastructure in the area.

All of this is very nice.
It makes for a nice article and for nice sound bites for the media.

The only problem is, it may be that Hamad is from the pragmatic Abbas school of moderation:

...[Hamad] said about 500 Palestinians have been killed and 3,000 wounded since the Israeli pullout, in addition to the destruction of much of the infrastructure in the area.

By comparison, he said, only three or four Israelis have been killed by the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip over the same period.

"Some will argue that it's not a matter of profit or loss, but that this has an accumulating effect" he said. "This may be true. But isn't there a possibility of decreasing the number of casualties and increasing our gains by using our brains and making the proper calculations away from demagogic statements?"

Sadly missing is any call for peace or recognition of Israel.

The article, the first of its kind by a senior Hamas official, also questioned the effectiveness of the Kassam rocket attacks and noted that since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip, the situation there has deteriorated on all levels. It holds the armed groups responsible for the crisis and calls on them to reconsider their tactics and to stop blaming Israel for their mistakes.

That is just the point: all Hamad has done is that he "questioned the effectiveness of the Kassam rocket attacks" and asked the Palestinian terrorists "to reconsider their tactics".

Hamad may question the tactics, but not the strategy.
The strategy remains the destruction of Israel.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Gaza.