re: #173 Killgore Trout

Is there a definitive reason why Hamas came into power in Gaza? There’s so much muddled information out there. It’s obvious they’ve been militant for their existence, and the Gazan people turned to them (well, more voted for them than Fatah, which led to infighting between the 2 groups, which Hamas won, which is where we are now.)

Was the PLO (Fatah) that ineffective in governing the area that they turned to Hamas (which they had to know was militant)? Forgive my ignorance, but would I be at least somewhat correct in saying that the Gazans (Palestinians, or whatever people want to call them) were unhappy about the negotiations being conducted by the PLO at the time (mostly over historical boundaries with Israel) and the occupation?

I think everyone agrees Hamas is evil, there are innocents in Gaza, and that Israel needs to defend itself. Figuring out why Hamas was supported in the first place may be an important question to answer so that once they are removed from power (which I think is the only thing Israel can do at this point) they, or a group similar to them, will never come back into power (which means creating a stable Gaza so that they never feel the need to support a group like Hamas.)

Again, sorry for a lack of understanding, but I’m trying to figure out the underlying issues behind this conflict.