WATCHING HAMAS

It has been barely a week since the Islamic group Hamas won the recent Palestinian election and the international community is already issuing ultimatums and threats to the new ruling party, which seemed as surprised as anyone to win a majority in Parliament. Rather than making quick demands of Hamas, which the United States and Europe have already done, officials need to slow down and consider that not much has changed in the Palestinian territories.

For instance, the Palestinian president remains the same and national leaders negotiate with one another, not with individual political parties. If negotiations were to resume, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, not Hamas members, would lead the Palestinian delegation. Further, despite U.S., European Union and Israeli claims that they will not negotiate with Hamas, there have not been negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel for two years and only sporadic talks between the United States and Palestinians.

As a corollary, Israel for years has had a policy of unilateral action when it comes to the Palestinian territories. Just this summer, Israeli settlements in the West Bank were evacuated and the land turned over to the Palestinians. The Israeli government continues to build a barrier between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Israel has built border crossing points and demands that Palestinians be screened before traveling between the occupied territories, where they live, and Israel, where many work.

There is no indication that these policies will change.

Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington also points out that, aside from the corruption that was rampant in the former ruling party, Fatah, the issues that brought Hamas to power cannot be solved by the group without Israel’s participation. The Palestinians have little control over their land and economy. The most pressing issue facing Palestinians is jobs. Unemployment among 16- to 24-year-old males in the territories is 70 percent. Without jobs, these men have the time and resentment needed to organize violent attacks.

Cutting financial support, as the European Union and United States have suggested they may do, would only worsen the economic situation, likely leading to more violence.

It is also worth remembering, Ms. Bennis says, that the Palestinian Liberation Organization under Yasser Arafat was long considered a terrorist group before eventually becoming a party to negotiations. By working with Hamas to improve the Palestinian economy in exchange for stopping violent attacks, it is possible that Hamas will follow the same path.