The American Mind

Here’s a paragraph from an NY Times story about Hamas conquering Gaza:

Now, in post-revolutionary Gaza, the place is trashed and looted, toilets and tiles ripped away, offices emptied of computers, furniture, light fixtures, doors and electric wiring. Bits of plastic plumbing dot the courtyard, mixed with broken glass, burned files, the charred manual to a computer and the melted paper tray of a photocopier.

Looks like Baghdad after Saddam’s government fell. It looks like Hama wasn’t prepared for a post-Fatah Gaza.

Hamas’ victory hasn’t brought about an Islamic paradise:

But Hamas’s victory has left many Gazans feeling vulnerable and afraid.

Ghada, 50, a Palestinian Christian, is afraid to go outside. When she does, “You have all these men suddenly in the street with these long beards, and they look at you in surprise, from up to down, and their look is, like, why are you like this?” Several times, young men have told her she should be killed for not wearing a head covering.

Ghada, who asked that her last name not be used, and who works for an Arab consulate here, now will only take a taxi to her office. On Sunday, the Latin Church and Rosary Sisters School were ransacked and looted, with crosses and Bibles destroyed. Hamas leaders condemned the attack and denied responsibility, but the small Christian community here is anxious.

“Many of us are thinking about leaving Gaza for the West Bank once the crossings are open,” Ghada said. Then she said angrily, “I can’t leave my home — why should I leave it?”

…

There are other fears. A member of the Preventive Security Force, who asked not be identified, is in hiding, not trusting Hamas’s assertions that no harm will come to him.

Tahani Skaik, a well-known painter here who also works for the Ministry of Agriculture, is afraid she will be fired from her job.

“There’s so much we don’t know,” she said, shopping with her husband to stock up on staples like rice, flour, cooking oil and noodles, which are all running short because of the closing of the crossings in and out of Israel. “Everything is very vague,” she said. “In a way, the day is darker than the night. There is no feeling of safety.”

Why it makes perfect sense to treat this thugocracy like any other nation state. Thanks, Jimmy Carter, for the great idea.

“Gazans Adjust to Power Shift as New Rulers Revel”