THE GOOD SIDE OF HAMAS: IT'S NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS

How's that to start you reading? I'm an eclectic reader and library rat and sometimes I just grab stuff. I've been reading about what a couple of these terrorist orgs do in the Arab and Asian countries: think the old ward heelers in this country and you get it. Back in the days when government was not in our lives immigrant families or families down on their luck went down to the local Democratic or Republican HQ for some "help". Many many times the local pol, in exchange for favors later, would get a job or a doctor, or some food for a family in need. Sometimes get a kid back in school. The little things. This came with a price: vote the way we tell you, vote often, "get" others to vote, and if somebody needs to be "worked" you work them.

Hamas works exactly the same way but with much more effective control. There is a huge
Arab population moving to the cities and once there they are lost. Governments are weak or criminal and new arrivals have no direction. Up to the plate steps Hamas (or other terror groups), puts the young people into "madrassas" (Wahabi Mosque Schools), supply jobs and food for the families (funded almost entirely by Saudi money). and the price paid is not a conscious one. A life serving Allah. Do they recruit suicide bombers and terrorists? Not directly but they do solicit volunteers if someone wants to become a martyr. All these groups perform the ward heeler jobs in a poor population, but what is more important is that the educated see these services as desirable and join as well.

Make no mistake, these groups are more than just a "popular front" in the old time Communist sense, they are rooted in the community and have very wide support.