A casual observation by Palestinian psychologist Eyad Serraj in the Christian Science Monitor says a lot about one prevailing conventional wisdom: the idea that the Palestinians who voted for Hamas don’t necessarily support terror or Islamic fundamentalism. Profiling Mariam Farhat, (pictured) mother of three “martyrs,” and now a Hamas legislator, reporter Ilene Prusher writes:
Eyad Serraj, the head of the Gaza Community Mental Health Center and an expert in children’s health here, says that an abundance of religion is already taught in schools; he learned the Koran from the age of 6. But with a Palestinian pedigree such as hers, he says, Farhat is somewhat unassailable: For a Palestinian to criticize her would be like attacking Mom and apple pie.