More Hamas Support, Less Hamas Leadership?

djmcmath · 04-26-2004, 10:35 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/international/middleeast/25HAMA.html

While I'm posting NYT articles (free reg required), I thought this one was interesting, too. It only took what, 2 weeks to get the new guy killed? Now, nobody's stepping up to claim his position, and while support for the movement is supposed to be at an all-time fanatical high, bombings are at an all-time low, and nobody wants to be The Leader. Hmmm...

dan

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

I had to laugh when they reported that Yassir Arafat had run all the "other" wanted terorists out of his building. He doesn't want to give them the slightest excuse to drop a 500lb bomb on his HQ.

Overpaid Slacker · 04-26-2004, 08:15 PM

Dan -
Requiring registration with NYT? C'mon, The only worthwhile thing in the Times is the crossword. I'm still waiting for Jayson Blair to be an answer.

JP

djmcmath · 04-26-2004, 08:36 PM

But JP, it doesn't even cost you anything. It's free as in beer, not free as in speech. :>

Dan

djmcmath · 04-27-2004, 09:51 AM

Ok, so seriously, despite your feelings about NYT's political leanings, there are some facts clear through any bias:

1 -- 2 high-profile Hamas leaders have been offed in the last two weeks.
2 -- Popular support for Hamas is apparently up.
3 -- No new leader is stepping up.

Beyond that, it's all speculation -- why are no new leaders volunteering? Maybe 'coz they don't want to die? Maybe because Hamas isn't as popular as it is thought? Maybe ... who knows. It's tough to theorize. The other question is what will happen next -- will somebody step up? If so, will Israel be able to knock him down? Eventually, will Hamas fall apart because of lack of leadership? Will Sharon assassinate Arafat, despite popular disapproval of the action, handing control of Palestine to Hamas, which has no leader? Come now, this is good stuff!

Dan

Overpaid Slacker · 04-27-2004, 09:59 AM

I'd read yesterday in some trustworthy source that Hamas did in fact nominate a new target ...er, leader, and that Israel knew who it was.

It's not a job I'd step up and take, being the leader of a fanatical death cult at war with Israel.

At least the early Popes, who knew they were subject to the worst imaginable treatment by the Romans when (not if, but when) their identities were found out were standing up for something life- and spirit-affirming.

JP

djmcmath · 04-27-2004, 10:06 AM

JP -- I'm curious, which trustworthy source was it? I'd love to read news at someplace with reliable data. I seem to recall reading a similar "Hamas is leaderless" article at another place not too long ago, oddly enough. NYT probably gets a lot of their Mid-East stuff straight from the Haaretz, perhaps?

Dan

Overpaid Slacker · 04-27-2004, 10:36 AM

Dan -
I'll take a look. I read so much on a daily basis that, if I don't print it out for my archives, it's a real PITA to find a particular source again later. The "news" that Hamas had annointed another leader and that Israel had figured out whom didn't strike me as archive-worthy at the time, so I didn't save the source.

JP