So Whose Interest Does Hamas Really Represent

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 When the Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday 7th October 2023 there was great jubilation, singing and dancing on the streets in Gaza. I was watching plenty of videos showing the gaiety. 
Amidst all the whooping and hollering one middle aged Arab woman spoke to the camera with a worried and unhappy look. She said "What have they done? Now the Israelis will come over and destroy our homes."  Obviously she was speaking from experience. 
And that is exactly what is happening now.

But there was something else much bigger behind the woman's unhappiness. 
The people of Gaza DO NOT HAVE A VOICE. 
There are no free elections in Gaza. 
There is no parliament or legislature in Gaza. 
The last elections in Gaza were held 17 years ago in 2006. The "ostensible" leader of Hamas is one Ismail Haniyeh who is a very rich man. But he lives in a five star hotel in Qatar. Here he is (seated right) in a private jet.





Better Than First Class

 
He has not set foot in Gaza since 2016. But he is the leader of Hamas, no more the elected leader of Gaza. As I said the last elections in Gaza were held 17 years ago in 2006. The same with Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah in the West Bank. I have said this before none of these Arab regimes enjoy the legitimacy of the peoples' mandate. THERE IS NO SUCH THING. They just do not believe in free elections and democracy.

So when Hamas decided to go to war with Israel last Saturday just exactly who made the decision? Who did they consult? Did they ask the people in Gaza? "Hey folks we are going to attack Israel. After that they will probably come over and bomb your houses to shits. Do we have your agreement?"

So who did the Hamas guys ask? 
Or did they get instructions from the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar? 
Or did they get instructions from Iran? 
SO WHOSE INTEREST DOES HAMAS REALLY REPRESENT?I am writing this partly because I received the following "opinion" via WhatsApp this morning. Its a quick but incisive read.
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE RESULT IN THE WAR BETWEEN HAMAS AND ISRAEL; DEFEAT FOR HAMAS.
Hamas has no chance of victory. Then why start a war?
To begin with the population in Gaza of 2.2 million is about  24 percent of Israel's 9.2 million. This means Israel has a greater pool of people from which it could draw from to build up its military might.  Israel has proven it could take on the entire Arab world and still emerged victorious. Gaza is but a drop.
The Israeli armed forces of 473,000 manpower including reservists dwarf Hamas's 30,000 armed forces by a ratio of 15 to 1. Apart from allegedly having a nuclear bomb capability, Israel is hugely better armed than the rag-tag Hamas armed forces whose fighters are equipped with slingshots and missiles made from pipes and produced in workshops that are bereft of precision tools. 
Any weapons lost in Ukraine but found their way to Gaza have no sustainability. They are good for one shot and then what? There is no sustainable logistical support. 
Furthermore, Israel controls water, food and electricity supply to Gaza. Shut these down and Hamas will go begging. 
To say that Hamas is committing suicide in the war against Israel is not an overstatement. Why fight when the reprisal from Israel will surely leave behind an unimaginable devastation in Gaza.
Perhaps Hamas is losing support from its people and from the world. Perhaps it needs to remind the world of its existence and that it has a dire need for financial support. A short war against Israel would do the trick.
Hamas must have a reason for starting a war. It could very well be about money.  But the fear is that the big brother from across the Atlantic Ocean and Israel may blame Iran as the behind the scenes player and accuse  Iran for providing the support to Hamas.  They may use it as a  pretext to bomb Iran and destabilize the entire region. Wouldn't this fit into the American game plan of sustaining a forever war against China's  peace plan? My Comments :  Bombing Iran is not likely. Also the Ayatollahs have no stomach to fight any wars. The Ayatollahs are happier with their national passtime which is beating up and killing young girls.
 But back to the question : the Hamas knows they can never win any war against Israel. So why embark on an obviously suicidal mission?
And the Israelis have vowed that this time they will remove Hamas entirely from Gaza. Not only will Hamas not be able to launch any more attacks of any kind against Israel but they will NOT BE ABLE to rule Gaza.  This will happen.
So how does Hamas serve the interests of the people of Gaza by undertaking these foolhardy ventures?
This only makes sense if the decision to attack Israel was made by people who are not Gazans or Palestinians. The Iranians stand at the top of the line. The Muslim Brotherhood is also right up there beside Iran.
Hamas is nothing more than the local branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood which launched and miserably failed in the disastrous Arab Spring is now clutching at the last straws of its existence.  The Muslim Brotherhood needs money to pay for five star hotels and private jets. Plenty of money.
And big bangs and big firecrackers which make a lot of noise attract children with plenty of money in their pockets. Donations will pour in. Hence that comment above:
Hamas must have a reason for starting a war. It could very well be about money. 
The Iranians absolutely do not want this peace accord between Saudi Arabia and Israel. It is not just establishing diplomatic relations but a full fledged treaty between Saudi Arabia and Israel which will most likely involve 'security guarantees' BY Israel for the benefit of the Saudis. This will shut out Iran from the Middle East. The Iranians do not realise this (cos they are all stupid) but Arabs and Persians have never got along in history, ever. Hence it is a matter of time before Iran "controlled" Arab states like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Yemen and Gaza break out from the Iranian influence.  The interests of the people of Gaza do not fit into these equations at all.
 What does this mean in real terms? It means the Middle East will burn for decades to come. These are a very stupid people.  That is exactly what it means. 
  
  As in the classic psycho serial-killer movie Red Dragon where Will Graham (played by Edward Norton) explains to Dr Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins) why he got caught in the end  "You had disadvantages. You are insane".  All these people in the Middle East are just insane. Therefore those who are not insane will have a permanent advantage over them.
 Here is Dr Hannibal Lecter. To save two minutes you can drag the cursor to almost the end, minute 2:35.


The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtTBy Syed Akbar Ali 

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