The Rise of Political Islam: Hamas' 2006 Electoral Victory
Open Access
- Author:
- Khraishah, Omar Ramsey
- Area of Honors:
- Political Science
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Gretchen G Casper, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Gretchen G Casper, Thesis Honors Advisor
Arthur E Goldschmidt Jr., Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Abbas
Arafat
Fatah
Hamas
Palestinian Authority
Palestinian Legislative Congress
Palestinian Legislative Elections - Abstract:
- On January 25, 2006 candidates fielded by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, convincingly won the Palestinian Legislative Congress (PLC) election, securing 74 of the 132 parliamentary seats. The results of the election stunned the world, as Hamas became the dominant party in the Palestinian National Authority (PA), the Palestinian interim self-government body, replacing the secular nationalist Fatah party which had dominated the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole representative of the Palestinian people since 1968. The election results generated great concern among the Western world and their Arab allies, as it created obvious uncertainties regarding the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while challenging America's vision for democracy in the Middle East. Despite these alarming concerns and contradictions, the United States accepted the results of the PLC election, but re-fused to deal with Hamas through diplomatic maneuvers aimed at isolating the new Palestinian government. Hamas failed to submit to US pressure, and the fragile Palestinian unity government collapsed over powering sharing disputes. This paper examines the victory of Hamas in 2006 within the greater context of the rise of political Islam throughout the Middle East. First it examines the factors which polarized the Palestinian political field: the disempowering of national institutions, the fragmentation of land and society, the role of foreign influences, and the effects of election under occupation. The polarization of the political field is an often overlooked aspect of Hamas' electoral victory. It was essential in setting the stage for Hamas' triumph by obstructing Fatah's ability to compensate for its lack of legitimacy (unlike many of its authoritarian counterparts throughout the Arab world), while split-ting the Palestinian population’s allegiance into rivaling secular and Islamic camps after decades of the PLO's unchallenged monopoly on political power. The next segment of this paper logically addresses the major failures of Fatah, by highlighting its failure to advance Palestinian liberation against the expanding grip of Israeli occupation, its unwillingness and inability to represent the Palestinian people, its rampant corruption, and its division between an old and new guard in the years following the al-Aqsa Intifada and leading up to the 2006 election. The third section of this paper examines how Hamas capitalized upon the political and social vacuums in the occupied territories through its extensive social welfare services and its commitment to meet the needs and demands of the Palestinian people. These elements form the core of Hamas’ popularity and the group highlighted this reality in its well organized and shrewd election campaign strategy, entitled “Change and Reform.” The final portion of this paper effectively discredits those who attribute Hamas' electoral victory to an ambiguous Islamization and radicalization of Palestinian society by drawing upon Palestinian public opinion polls and surveys accompanied by Hamas' moderated stance before the election. Hamas' electoral victory in 2006 is not an indication of radicalization trends in Palestine, but a result of the polarization of the Palestinian political field which led to and accentuated the various shortcomings of Fatah, while allowing Hamas to exploit its rival's weaknesses and appeal to the population through its extensive social welfare network.