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Hamas Tightens Its Grip in Gaza

[Hudson Institute New York] Khaled Abu Toameh - Hamas is gradually turning Gaza into a Taliban-style Islamic entity that poses a threat not only to Israel, but also to the Americans, Europeans and moderate Arabs and Muslims. Young women in Gaza are being harassed and arrested by Hamas' "morality police" for laughing in public or leaving their homes without hijabs. Palestinian women are banned from swimming unless they are covered from top to bottom, and are being banned from entering coffee shops, restaurants and other public places unless they are escorted by male relatives. Young men are banned from swimming in the sea topless. A Palestinian journalist in Gaza remarked: "The Americans and Europeans are fighting against Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan while Hamas is building a new fundamentalist entity here." PA leader Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad insist on boycotting peace talks with Israel in protest against the ongoing construction in the settlements. But the two did not stay away from the talks when former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were also building in the settlements. Abbas and Fayyad are waiting for the U.S. administration to deliver, hoping that Obama will force Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders, including the eastern part of Jerusalem, and expel all the Jewish settlers from the West Bank. Palestinian officials in Ramallah explain, why return to the negotiating table with Israel when the U.S. has actually endorsed the Palestinian position and is negotiating with the Netanyahu government on behalf of the Palestinian Authority?
2009-07-06 06:00:00
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