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All eyes on Hamas
By MARGARET K. COLLINS and DOUGLASS CROUSE
STAFF WRITERS, Bergen Record
January 27, 2006
The who's who of influential people in the Palestinian-American community will
likely change.
Other than that, say Palestinians living in North Jersey, it's wait-and-see on
how the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas' landslide election victory in the
Occupied Territories will affect their people abroad and at home.
"This will be an awakening for Palestinians in the New Jersey area," said Aref
Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum, a Paterson-based think tank. "They
will have to reconsider their relationships and contacts with the Palestinian
Authority. We have to start from scratch building relationships with the new
regime."
That means there may be a shift in leadership within the community, Assaf said,
as new faces emerge with contacts and access with Hamas leaders.
Despite the freshness of the historic vote, Yaser Baker didn't have the TV in
his restaurant, Al Basha, on Main Street in Paterson tuned to CNN. The dozen
diners there Thursday evening were watching Mideast pop videos.
"We tell the customers there's no politics here," said Baker, a Palestinian.
Later he confided, "Usually we'd be busier, but people may be home watching
their television. When I go home, I'll watch the leftovers."
But in back of everyone's mind was the uncertainty and excitement generated by
Wednesday's election of 76 Hamas candidates to the Palestinian Parliament -- the
majority of the 132 four-year seats.
Mohamad Abeuras, who came to Paterson from the Mideast three months ago, said,
"The people chose Hamas because they have had a bad experience with the Fatah
movement.
"It's not because they necessarily like Hamas," he said while working at Nablus
Sweets and Pastries in Paterson. "People don't trust the peace process with the
Fatah movement."
Fatah has been mired in corruption. In comparison, Hamas -- until recently a
shadowy militant group whose suicide bombings earned it a terrorist label -- has
delivered social reforms and built infrastructure such as hospitals and
universities, especially in Gaza.
In terms of civil rights, "I'm concerned about what Hamas' victory might mean
for women's rights," said Maha Kabbash, a board member of the Clifton-based New
Jersey Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "The movement
is based on Islamic law, but on the other hand I've heard that there were many
female candidates and women participating in the election, so it's an
interesting dichotomy."
Unprecedented numbers of women turned out for the elections and they accounted
for 85 of the 728 candidates -- 13 on Hamas' national ticket.
To Salaheddin Mustafa of Clifton, Hamas' militant image is something else of
concern. But he said its emerging power wouldn't stir a backlash toward
Palestinians in the United States.
As for President Bush's statements in his press conference Thursday, Mustafa
said he expected harsher rhetoric.
"Sounds like he kind of opened the door," he said of comments that included
referring to the election result as a reminder of the power of democracy.
But Waheed Khalid, chairman of the Bergen County Chapter of the American-Muslim
Union, was less pleased. "The Bush administration has to be careful in their
statements so far," Khalid said. "He did not talk about any obligation on the
Israelis to comply with the many, many resolutions that are in place or to talk
about a viable Palestinian state in place."
Members of the North Jersey Palestinian community agreed that the primary goal
is unchanged: an economically viable and independent Palestinian state including
the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as its capital, existing peacefully, side
by side with Israel.
"The issue that needs to be resolved is not Hamas or anybody else," Mustafa
said. "A lot of it is almost irrelevant if you're not talking about ending the
occupation in a reasonable way."
E-mail: collinsp@northjersey.com and crouse@northjersey.com |
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