Friday, March 31, 2006

politics of the downtrodden

if all that you have is a hammer,
than everything else looks like a nail

posted by syed putra @ Friday, March 31, 2006 9 comments

Thursday, March 23, 2006

the mayor is no terrorist

By Simon Robinson

To get a sense of how Hamas might govern, consider the stoplights in al-Bireh. Many of the busiest junctions in this West Bank town didn't even have traffic signals until a few weeks ago.

But after Hamas won power in municipal elections in December, city officials bought new lights from an Israeli contractor and dispatched teams of laborers who worked overtime to install them just before last week's legislative vote.

Election gimmick? Perhaps.

But in the West Bank, where services have deteriorated under years of Fatah misrule and the violence of the Intifadah, people appreciate even the smallest effort. This reputation for getting things done helped Hamas sweep to power in local elections across Gaza and the West Bank
last year; in some areas it won every contested seats.

And when voters saw the militant group follow-up on its election promises rather than line its pockets, they concluded it was a viable alternative to Fatah and delivered Hamas unexpected win last week.

"We have credibility on the street", say Hamas party official, Omar Hamayel, 29, who was elected in December as al-Bireh's mayor.

"The media has always talked only about violence. Now people are seeing that we can run things as well".

Cleaning the Palestinian house

Hamas's can-do reputation has been decades in the making. Even before its strategic shift into mainstream Palestinian politics last year, the party was operating its own services; medical clinics, schools, soup kitchen.

Since the party's success in local elections, which took place over several months, Hamas officials have concentrated on what they called 'cleaning the Palestinian house'.

Just look at the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, where the Islamic party prevailed in local elections last June.In the past few months, the Hamas dominated council has paid off the town's debt, balanced its budget, raised salaries and begun rebuilding roads.

"We stick to our principles and we do what we say", says Sheikh Mohammed Abu Tir, 55, Hamas' most influential official in Jerusalem and No 2 on the party's national list of candidates last week.

It doesn't take much for Hamas to outdo its predecessor. In al-Bireh, Hamayel is winning praise
just for coming to work on time. Previous city leaders often arrived late, if at all. But Hamayel is trying to set a new tone.

"The fact that when the staff comes to work I am here and when they leave I am still here means that they see a sense of responsibility becoming a reality", says Hamayel, a former chemistry teacher whose soft voice belies a fierce determination.

His employees have noticed. Hamayel "is at his desk by 8 a.m and works through after the doors are closed and people leave", says Ahmad Arqoud, a civil servant who has worked for the town since 1980.

Though remittances from the Palestinian diaspora make al-Bireh relatively wealthy, the town has long shared many of the West Bank's piles of garbage, broken streetlights and water pipes, high employment.

Hamayel's first task was to ask municipal workers to write job descriptions for every position. "That way we all know what their responsibilities are", says Hamayel. "We don't want people drawing a pay-check unless they are helping build the community".

Resisting and building

None of which alters the fact that Hamas, as a party, remains commited to Israel's destruction. But in localities like al-Bireh, Hamas officials are focusing on winning hearts and minds by doing the small stuff.

"One hand is resisting, the other is building", says Abu Tir, whose full beard is stained orange with henna in the style thought to be favored by the Prophet Muhammad. "This is what the Quran tells us and this is the principle we will adhere to".

This combination of tough talk and problem solving appeals to voters like Haytham Hammad, 22, a corporal in the Palestinian security forces."Fatah has not achieved anything for me",
he says over coffee in an al-Bireh cafe.

"Hamas is capable of taking back the rights of the Palestinian people - daily rights like a good job, clean water".

"Fatah has forgotten even their mothers", says Abu Tayseer, a cake seller at the next table. "The party is nothing but a crowd of blackmailers".

Now the blackmailers are in opposition and its up to Hamas to fulfill Palestinian's hopes - big and small.
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Time, issue of February 6, 2006

posted by syed putra @ Thursday, March 23, 2006 0 comments