Gaza Notebook: Hamas Ascendant - Fawaz Gerges

The Nation, January 16, 2009 - I have just returned from the Middle East and witnessed how Israel's assault on Gaza is radicalizing mainstream Muslim opinion. Shown endlessly on Arab and Muslim television stations, the massive killing of civilians is fueling rage against Israel and its superpower patron, the United States, among mainstream and moderate voices who previously believed in co-existence with the Jewish state. Now, they are questioning their basic assumptions and raising doubts about Israel's future integration into the region....

In my recent travels I was struck by the widespread popular support for Hamas--from college students and street vendors to workers and intellectuals. Very few ventured criticism of Hamas, and many said they felt awed by the fierce resistance put forward by its fighters. Israel's onslaught on Gaza has effectively silenced critics of Hamas and politically legitimized the militant resistance movement in the eyes of many previously skeptical Palestinians and Muslims. Regardless of how this war ends, Hamas will likely emerge as a more powerful political force than before and will likely top Fatah, the ruling apparatus of President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

"No one dares any longer to question Hamas's right to represent the Palestinian people," said a 30-year-old leftist Palestinian, a graduate of the American University in Beirut. Why so, I asked. "The Islamist resistance has earned a place at the table with blood," he told me.

Fawaz A. Gerges is a professor of Middle Eastern studies and international affairs at Sarah Lawrence College.