This is a question many of us have asked ourselves.

Gazans have been equated with the people who are in political and paramilitary power there from the beginning of Hamas control, which was brought about by an election run more fairly than many in jurisdictions of the USA.  The three Israeli invasions of Gaza since Hamas’ electoral victory have not diminished Hamas’ control over the besieged enclave, nor provided more security to the citizens of the invading nation.  Polls in Israel show massive support for a military move that is being more universally condemned than any previous Israeli act of aggression.  Polls in Gaza show no diminution of support for Hamas.

Do Gazan Palestinians who would like to move beyond Hamas having eliminated Fatah corruption have any sort of chance or agency in forcing a change that would remove the onus of their being test cases for defending the bombing of schools, hospitals, EMTs responding, refugee collection centers and so on?  I’m not sure they do.  Hamas controls 99% of the weapons in the “Strip.”

A MyFiredoglake diary early Sunday provoked me into writing about this.  The author opened with:

There is a great divide between proof Islamists sacrifice their women and children, and those willing to believe it as they prefer to focus on blaming Jews and Israel at every opportunity.  Although the evidence of Islamist behavior is overwhelming, many prefer to blame the sticks growing that block their view of the forest–obviously because the sticks are a political tool of the ruling class.

Uh, sort of OK, but the author went on:

Elected governments who drag out people into the street and shoot them without due process, are accepted by the blogger crowd, because those elected officials say those killed were helping Jews and Americans.  The hell with due process.  And people are allowed to elect anyone they want–without being held accountable for the actions that follow, because they are fighting a war against Jews and Americans.

Not OK.  I was offended for a few reasons, and commented:

Liberal bloggers’ inability to frame Hamas accurately or with some sort of overall condemnation has more to do with not wanting to further right-wing myths and memes than with sympathy for the political position Hamas occupies and represents.

This diary links to some questionable documentation to back its thrust, as observed in comments above.

I’ve condemned Hamas on a number of issues in the past, and will probably continue to do that. I have no idea what it must be like right now in Gaza for the average well-educated Palestinian who is not comfortable with Hamas being in charge. The population at large is far worse armed than I am, or my neighbors, or most Alaskans and Americans, or – most certainly – almost any West Bank colonist. Hamas functionaries and apparatchiks have 99% of the weapons there, so I’m not sure how a rational person might take them out through some sort of resistance move or movement. Then again….

I take issue with the diary author’s use of the term “Jews.” It strikes me as borderline, as this blog and almost all credible lefty blogs don’t think of Zionist colonialism as a “Jew” issue. Partly because many of us are Jewish (I am not) and resent being co-opted by people who have hijacked one of history’s great faiths.

It isn’t like it up to liberal bloggers to help Gazan inmates figure out how best to get themselves delivered from the latest unruly iteration of their Kapos.

I am glad to see MyFiredoglake provide a forum for a writer who challenges what the author perceives to be some sort of blinders or blocked vision by “the left.”  I wish it had been better written.