According to Toronto Star columnist Haroon Siddiqui, Hamas’ unflagging campaign of terror gives it credibility in comparison to Mahmoud Abbas:
He has failed to curb corruption, cronyism and mismanagement in the Palestinian Authority. He is yet to curb terrorism and establish law and order, having allowed militias, including Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, to roam free.
Some of his failures were inevitable. He has little power to crack down, Sharon having battered the Palestinian security forces over the years.
Sharon also took weeks to agree, under U.S. pressure, on the movement of people and goods out of Gaza to Egypt and the West Bank.
Gaza’s seaport and airport, essential to an economic revival, are yet to open.
By contrast, Hamas has credibility from its militant resistance to Israel, its network of social services and its honest administration of the municipalities it won in local elections.
Hamas now openly boasts it will form the next PA government.
