Tutorial: How to diffuse Hamas

1. Threaten to sanction Hamas without waiting to see whom they place in their government and what policies they put in place as the established doctrine of their regime.

2. Try to socially alientae Hamas from its overwhelming support by promising to seal up Gaza as soon as Hamas takes over. Further this threat by declaring that Gaza will be an international border thereby, restricting travel- costing Palestinians their jobs, crops, education and their collective livelihood.

3. Further social alienation can be acheived through a restriction on the funds being transferred to the Palestinian Authority; these funds are taxes collected by Israel in the occupied territories, and thus go into Israeli coffers first. Simply stopping the transfer of these funds cripples the Palestinian Authority and ensures that if not immediately, then atleast over time, Hamas will come under pressure from within Palestine

4.Demand fundamental changes immediately from a party that has never held national power, demand these conditions as a pre cursor to any recognition of their power; thereby, successfully doing exactly what you want them not to do in relation to Israel (ie. not recognise Israel).

5. Proclaim that anyone providing financial support to Hamas is funding a terrorist organisation. Ignore all evidence that suggests that Hamas is more than just an armed struggle group, that they have been vital to the setup of basic infrastructure in Palestinian society, that they have funded hospitals, schools, sewage systems and other basic needs that have long been ignored by the occupiers of Palestine.

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addendum (11:27 pm, Feb 18):

Ok.. I just got an email from one of my pro-Palestinian friends. In it, she managed to question when and how my beliefs had changed so much that I could ever post an entry like this on my blog.

Hmm. ok, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and make it clear for everyone- perhaps my attempts at handling this topic have backfired.

This was supposed to be a sarcastic post showing how Israel and the International community have pressured Hamas over the last few weeks. I did not want to be tutoring anyone on how to manipulate Hamas, infact I was pointing out how this is eing done. Perhaps my writing did not make it clear, but I am still pro-Palestinian and yes, pro- Hamas. Talk about my sense of humour backfiring.

So, there. Yeah. Hamas ya Nour-al-Ayn!