Micheál Martin is at it again. He is shocked, saddened, outraged that the Left’s candidate Catherine Connolly should have said that “Hamas is part of the fabric of the Palestinian people”
So maybe a short history and linguistic lesson, Micheál.
The phrase Catherine Connolly used does not necessarily mean she is endorsing any of Hamas’s violent actions; she’s simply reflecting the reality that Hamas is a significant political and social actor within Palestinian society, one that cannot simply be wished away by outside observers.
Hamas emerged in the late 1980s as a resistance movement during the First Intifada and has since developed as an armed group, a political party and a provider of social services. In the 2006 elections, Hamas won a majority of seats, defeating Fatah, which had been the dominant party in Palestinian politics. Whether one supports or opposes Hamas’s ideology, its electoral victory demonstrated that it represented the will of a substantial portion of Palestinians. To speak of Hamas as part of the “fabric” of Palestinian life is therefore to acknowledge a sociopolitical fact: it is woven into the political, social, and even humanitarian structures in Gaza, and has been for deades.
So if Micheál or anybody else is keen on building peace, they’d better find a way to include Hamas if they want that peace to last.. Ignoring Hamas entirely or insisting that it have no role in a future Palestinian state risks creating a political arrangement that lacks legitimacy among those who support it. Exclusion can sometimes deepen conflict rather than resolve it, as it incentivizes spoilers to undermine peace processes.
What Micheál hopes is that he can out-screw/out-debate anyone who is sufficiently awake, by parroting British and Israeli views on the bloodbath in Gaza and what should follow. If we’re talking about violence, repression and contempt for human rights, Micheál would be better using his time preparing for the day when the Israeli war criminals are brought to justice for their war crimes.
The fact is the remark makes sense as an observation about political reality: Hamas is indeed interwoven with Palestinian society. The harder question is whether that reality should translate into a role for Hamas in governance or diplomacy. Many would argue that recognition should be conditional on Hamas renouncing violence and committing to pluralism. Others might point to the war criminals in Israel and their friends and weapons-funders in the US and the UK.
Please, Micheál – spare us your pearl-clutching gasps of horror.
Maith thú Jude.