Hamas Shifts From Rockets to Culture War even months after Israel started a fierce three-week military campaign here to stop rockets from being fired on its southern communities, Hamas has suspended its use of rockets and shifted focus to winning support at home and abroad through cultural initiatives and public relations. The aim is to build what leaders here call a “culture of resistance,” the topic of a recent two-day conference. In recent days, a play has been staged, a movie premiered, an art exhibit mounted, a book of poems published and a television series begun, most of it state-sponsored and all focused on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. There are plans for a documentary competition. “Armed resistance is still important and legitimate, but we have a new emphasis on cultural resistance,” noted Ayman Taha, a Hamas leader and former fighter. “The current situation required a stoppage of rockets. After the war, the fighters needed a break and the people needed a break.”
Right — Hamas just decided, ‘you know what, this whole rocket thing isn’t working out so well for us — let’s try musicals!’ And of course Joe Klein is a believer, he writes today about the “softer tone from Hamas (and the cessation of missiles fired from Gaza at Israeli civilians).” Apparently Klein also believes “the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is a triumph of diplomacy,” or at least he’s too proud to retract the statement a month after it was made and as Shalit still languishes in some Hamas hell-hole. But the AP offers some countervailing evidence today:
Police order a lingerie shop to hide its scantily clad mannequins. A judge warns female lawyers to wear head scarves in court. Beach patrols break up groups of singles and make men wear shirts. It’s all part of a new Hamas campaign to get Gazans to adhere to a strict Muslim lifestyle – and the first clear attempt by the Islamic militants to go beyond benign persuasion in doing so. It suggests that having consolidated its hold on Gaza in the two years since it seized control by force, Hamas feels emboldened enough to extend its ideology into people’s private lives. Hamas insists compliance with its “virtue campaign” is still voluntary and simply responds to a Gazan preference for conservative ways. But the rules are vague and there are reports of alleged offenders being beaten and teachers being told to pressure girls to wear head scarves.
Is it a “culture of resistance,” a “softer tone”? No, it’s a public beating. So, should we believe what Hamas and Klein say — that Hamas stopped firing rockets as it searches for a more productive method of resistance — or should we believe something more obvious — i.e., that maybe Bibi threatened to obliterate Hamas if the rocket fire continued?
