The Palestinian Street Speaks

BBC NEWS | Middle East : "Gaza rallies to Hamas after bomb"

The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, called on the Hamas administration to take a clear stand against "unjustifiable terrorism".

US President Bush's spokesman accused the government of defending a "barbaric" act. And the Russians too said that the carnage in Tel Aviv could not be justified.

But there is no sign that Hamas feels in any way chastened.

After the West had delivered all its criticism, interior ministry spokesman Said Seeyam reiterated his government's view that the Tel Aviv attack constituted self-defence.

"We are not a great power that can confront the planes and missiles of the occupation," he said.

"But our people have the right and the will to defend themselves and confront as much as they can the arrogance of the occupation."

Anxiety

Mr Seeyam and his government know that - certainly on this issue - they have the backing of the streets of Gaza.

A man selling sheets in a shop off Palestine Square said: "The world ignores us. But through [the bombing] they will know that we are still alive and resisting.

"We have to continue in the right way - the path of Jihad."

And a food stand owner, Talat Hejazi, described his reaction to the news of the blast in Tel Aviv:

"I was very happy because of all these blows on us all the time. Let them feel it for once. Let them retaliate - we will sacrifice ourselves."

Overwhelmingly people spoke in those terms. But there were a few who expressed deep reservations, like Nadr Kitnani, who sat on the pavement trying to sell shoes.

"We are really afraid of the Israeli reaction because always their reaction is strong and we want to live," he said.

"We need to eat and drink. We have kids."

Carte blanche

But however harsh Israel's retaliation might be, for now at least nobody here imagines Hamas revising its attitude towards attacks on Israel.

What it describes as the right to resist is a central plank in its ideology. And cafes and buses and women and children can be targeted.

Yes, IJ has clearly undermined Hamas' position. The Palestinians stand on the verge of waking up in masse. I can see the revolution building. Soon and very soon, the masses will rally in the street, burning Hamas officials in effigy along with the charter. Any day now.

Right.

The agents of evil have long seduced the Palestinians with illusions of empire. Yes, many have needlessly suffered cruelty at the hands of a zealous IDF. But why has the IDF been so zealous?

Because terrorists murder innocent women and children in the streets of Israel disputed by no one except the raging nihilists of Gaza/West Bank.

Now, those nihilists control the PA. Why?

Because the majority of Palestinians have voted for them. And enough of them voice support for Hamas' justification for this BBC reporter to attribute to them the voice of the "Gaza Street."

Yes, that Gaza: the one the PA now controls; can anyone else see the problem?

When the world stops rewarding the Palestinians for condoning--and perpetrating--murder on innocent Israelis, then the blood-lusting nihilists in their midst will lose their influence. Then, and only then, do the Palestinians have an opportunity to make a lasting peace with Israel--one that includes a state of their own.

Meanwhile, the enemy continues his vain campaign of death and destruction. The first rays of that first Easter smothered his rage in the promise of salvation long ago. He can't win.

Neither can his agents.