Sur le Hamas

Noam Chomsky: Press reports in Israel indicate that, as expected, the government is delighted with the Hamas victory, which enables the government to persist in its "there is no partner" posture, enabling it to carry forward its programs of taking over the valuable parts of the West Bank and ensuring that remaining fragments left to Palestinians will be unviable -- a second prison alongside of Gaza, decisions now explicit with the announcement of the virtual annexation of the Jordan Valley and steps to expel the population gradually. The US position is probably more complex. Washington doubtless welcomes the opportunity to carry forward the Israeli plans for which it has provided decisive support. On the other hand, it is reasonably clear that Washington would have preferred to pursue these policies within the framework of a powerless Palestinian authority, reduced to weak rhetorical gestures and discrediting the cause of securing Palestinian national rights. A genuine commitment to realizing these rights was not one of the options. The non-option is supported by almost the entire world and by a considerable majority of the US population, but that is largely irrelevant, as in many other cases, and will remain so until real progress is made at home in "democracy promotion," to borrow a fashionable phrase.

There is no way for Hamas to rely on Iran. With US backing, Israel completely controls the territories, which are virtually insulated from the outside, and can cut off financial flows.

More important for us than speculating about what Palestinians can do under these onerous circumstances is to pay attention to what we can and should do. First, we should pay attention to some important facts. Deplorable and ominous as many of Hamas's public positions are, we should bear in mind that they are in crucial respects more moderate and forthcoming than the official positions of the US and Israel.

The US, Israel & Hamas, Noam Chomsky, 21 février 2006