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How Sanctions Help Strengthen Hamas in Gaza

[Wall Street Journal, 13Apr07] Cam Simpson - Hamas - which won't recognize Israel or disavow its own long history of violence - has largely withstood a global boycott of its government led by the U.S., which considers Hamas a terrorist organization. The Hamas government has benefited, paradoxically, from outside humanitarian aid designed to bypass its offices. The aid system allowed Hamas to profit politically from relief while avoiding much of the blame for the crushing conditions among Palestinians. Hamas' survival clouds peace prospects, as well as parallel hopes to normalize relations between Israel and Arab states. Its staying power could also embolden Islamist groups hoping to make inroads across the region. Sanctions on funding the new PA government were declared after Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. However, by July 2006, money began flowing to Palestinians through a European initiative accepted by the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, dubbed the Temporary International Mechanism, or TIM. "Social allowances" (salaries) were deposited directly into the bank accounts of government employees, bypassing the PA. "All of a sudden," says Nathan Brown, a Middle East expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "the complete collapse of the political system was no longer going to happen." Because the European mechanism funded government employees and efforts, without using formal government channels, Hamas got the relief it needed without having to take political responsibility for effective governance, said Mouin Rabbani, a Middle East analyst for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. The European Commission reported that it had delivered 27% more money to the Palestinian territories in 2006 than it had during the previous year. The temporary mechanism, renewed every three months, now looks semipermanent.
2007-04-13 01:00:00
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