Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Persio, ma a Gaza quando si vota?

http://www.slate.com/id/2243888/
Gaza in Limbo
In 2006, Palestinians voted for Hamas over "corrupt" Fatah. Now many
Gazans regret their choice
SHATI REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip—Ayman Hamad ekes out a living as a
porter, wheeling suitcases along the passageway from the Erez crossing
point between Gaza and Israel along the mile-long open-air passageway to
the Palestinian side.
These days, he doesn't have much work. The only Palestinians making the
crossing are those going to Israel for medical reasons, and the only
Westerners are journalists and NGO workers.
"Hamas is terrible for us," he told me. "They only help those who
support Hamas. I don't support anyone—neither Hamas nor Fatah. I just
want to take care of my own family."
Open criticism of Hamas is growing in this densely populated strip of
1.5 million Palestinians. Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006
and then seized sole control of Gaza in June 2007, remains firmly in
control of the police and security apparatus. But Israel's boycott of
Hamas, which Israel imposed after Hamas captured an Israeli soldier
three and a half years ago, is making life in Gaza harder.
During last year's war between Israel and Hamas, which left around 1,400
Palestinians dead along with 13 Israelis, more than 4,000 homes were
completely destroyed, and about 17,000 were partially demolished. But
there has been almost no reconstruction, because Israel refuses to allow
cement and iron into Gaza, saying Hamas could use these materials to
make weapons.
Shortages of consumer goods have been partially alleviated by a system
of hundreds of tunnels dug under the border between Egypt and Gaza.
Israel has turned a blind eye to the items—everything from car parts to
cola—that are smuggled this way. But Palestinians here say the prices of
the Egyptian-made goods are high and that the quality is inferior to
what they used to get from Israel.
Now Egypt is building a wall that will reach deep underground and will
cut off many of the tunnels, and Palestinians are bracing for more
shortages.
"Egypt's steel wall does not serve the interests of any Arab party,"
says Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri.* "The Israeli occupation benefits
from it, because it has killed the last lifeline keeping the Gaza Strip
alive after two and a half years of siege."
At the preschool she runs for 130 poor children in this refugee camp,
Abir Salah, a tall, imposing woman, says she feels suffocated. Last
summer, one of her sons, who lives in Croatia, got married. She and her
daughter had their suitcases packed so they could attend the ceremony,
but they were unable to get an Israeli permit to leave Gaza.
"We tried Hamas, but now we have to get rid of them and change them for
someone else," she said. "We're tired of everything. And because of
Hamas, the international community has imposed a siege on us."
She then abruptly ended the conversation, saying she was worried that
Hamas might hurt her or her children.
Despite the sense of anger and frustration, there doesn't seem to be a
viable alternative political leadership. Many senior members of the
Fatah movement fled the strip after Hamas seized sole control. Elections
that were scheduled for this month have been put on indefinite hold.
Hamas won the election in 2006 mostly because the average Palestinian
was angry with the rampant corruption of the ruling Fatah movement.
Hamas' slogan of "Change and Reform" resonated. But with daily life
getting worse, some are calling for Fatah to return.
Taxi driver Iyad al-Shafi says that he voted for Hamas in 2006 but that
if elections were held today, he would look for another party to
support. "The truth is that Israel is the basis for all of our problems
here," he said. "And nobody likes Fatah because they're corrupt. But
when Fatah was in charge here, people were working and had money. There
were no shortages, and, most important of all, we could leave Gaza."
In an interview in his office in Gaza City, Hamas senior official Ahmed
Yusuf insisted that the majority of the public still supports Hamas and
its social and political goals. Yet he admits that Hamas would find it
hard to win another election. "It's because of the siege and all of the
suffering of the people here," he said. "Next time they might vote for
somebody else."
Correction, Feb. 10, 2010: This article originally misspelled Mushir
al-Masri's first name. (Return to the corrected sentence.)
Linda Gradstein was the NPR correspondent in Jerusalem for 20 years and
is currently working on a book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

si voterà quando Abu Mazen smetterà di rinviare le elezioni
inventandosi una scusa nuova ogni volta, tanto è sicuro che vincerebbe
in tutta la Palestina...:D