Hamas

[kandrathe]

I believe terrorists are less effective than revolutionaries or freedom fighters. Allow me to make the distinction. Terrorists are indiscriminate in their targets. They seek attention and discourse by terror, horror and destruction.

If their targeting was sensitive to minimize civilian deaths, I think they would be more effective in recruiting, retention, and public sympathy to their cause. That is, if they were successful. The terrorist takes the lazy way out hitting the undefendable soft targets, but they have a good chance of success. In my mind I'm comparing our own revolutionary war events to modern revolutionary struggles, like the establishment of a Palestinian State.

But, like other struggles in the middle east, I think this one is plagued by the fact that when taken literally, the Koran is antiquated and anti-freedom. It is human nature for people to rally around their faith when things get bad. For strict Islamacists, this pulls them back to a 12th century feudal model of authority. That is why you see a democratically elected Yassir Arafat regime act as a defacto benevolent dictator, and his administration was rife with corruption and cronyism. Hamas is the equivalent of the religious right in the US, which exemplifies intolerance, rankor, and extreme political views.

The problem I see with Palestine (or other islamic nations) is that they desire autonomy and freedom, but are trapped in their primary philosophy of feudal subserviance. In order to progress with their movement they will need two things; assurance to Isreal that they can coexist peacefully, and a new islamic philosophy of freedom and the protection of individual liberties.