So I'm watching the world events and noticed recently the election in Palestine. The people chose to elect Hamas as the ruling majority in their government. Initially, I can't say I really blame the people of Palestine. They have had to deal with the corrupt rule of Fatah for some time now. Unemployment is around 50%. The number of Palestinians who used to work in Israel (where they could make 10X what they make in Palestine) was around 130,000. That number is around 0 now.Hundreds of millions of dollars were taken from government budgets by Arafat and his cabinet. The government itself is nearly bankrupt. The government is now actually paying Arafat's wife several million a year to tell them where those hundreds of millions ended up. It was simply stupid, corrupt government at its finest. I have no clue why Arafat was so beloved by the people when he continued to screw them over so badly.
Now, Hamas is in charge. All peace negotiations will obviously cease. Hamas has a charter that specifically calls for the removal of Israel and its people. There are daily confrontations between Hamas and Fatah supporters in the streets. From a political standpoint, I personally think that Hamas getting in charge may end up being a good thing in the long run. It appears to be uniting the U.S. and their allies when they had not always got along previously because of Iraq. The open failure of a government run by terrorists may destabilize the region in the short term, but could result in the eventual loss of support from the Palestinian people in regards to Hamas. Just below is a propaganda picture that Hamas thinks is a good thing. I'm guessing that posing a 1-year old baby next to a machine gun is not going to draw much sympathy from most people.
Meanwhile, I read about several families in Palestine where the father is unemployed, but would love to work in Israel again to make the $1,000/month so his family can live comfortably. How screwed is this guy? He has a choice of Fatah and Hamas for his voting choices to 'help' his situation (there are other smaller parties, but much like in the US, they are not a major factor). Suddenly, I like the choice between Democrats and Republicans. It may not be without corruption, but it's a much better alternative than my friend in Palestine has at this point.Imagine what this country could do without corruption in government..............Ah, it's always nice to dream.
