Taliban on the West Bank. Bruce
Palestinians Debate Shades of Islamic Law By <http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=IAN%20FISHER&fdq=1996010 1&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=IAN%20FISHER&inline=nyt-per> IAN FISHER New York Times February 01, 2006 Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times Hamas's victory causes Palestinians who might prefer pantsuits to worry they will soon be wearing head scarves. TAYBEH, West Bank, Jan. 30 - This is a village of three churches, a brewer of very good beer, and no small fear - if not yet full panic - about what it means now that Hamas, the radical Islamic party, is in control of Palestinian politics. "If the whole world and our president are afraid, do you think that we are not?" asked Nima Samaan, 62, a Christian Arab, referring to the current, and secular, Palestinian leader, <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/mahmoud_abbas/ index.html?inline=nyt-per> Mahmoud Abbas. There is no certain answer to the question asked apprehensively around the West Bank and Gaza since Hamas swept the parliamentary elections last week: To what extent - by law or by social pressure - will Hamas impose its strong religious beliefs? So far Hamas leaders, seeking to calm both Palestinians and an anxious outside world, have projected moderation. They say they will not impose on the Palestinians' diverse society any form of Islamic rule. "You cannot force people to do what they do not want to do," said Sheik Fadil Saleh, 53, a former imam who won a seat in Ramallah for Hamas. "In the Koran it is said: No force in religion." Given Hamas's roots in the wider Islamic movement, the pledge is not entirely convincing for many in the tiny and dwindling Christian population, or among secularists and observant Muslims who want a more secular state. The worry is not just about more visible signs of Islamization, like bans on alcohol and the use of head scarves by women. It is also about satellite television, school curriculums, divorce, banking, even Palestinian folk dancing in which women and men dance together. "I do trust the wisdom of the leadership of Hamas," said Raji Sourani, a secular lawyer who directs the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. "It's not the Taliban." But the distrust of Hamas's intentions surfaces in jokes (about Hamas traffic police handing out tickets, not for speeding but for violations of Muslim rules on purity), no less than in the tension between Hamas and Fatah, the more secular party, which was ousted in the elections as being corrupt and inefficient. "We don't want the rule of mullahs in Palestine," Jibril Rajoub, national security adviser to President Abbas, told Fatah supporters last week. Still, some people here seem warily willing to take Hamas at its word, if only for lack of good options. "Hamas has more important things to worry about than beer," said Muni Dahlal, a 50-year-old Christian here, who had just plucked from a shop refrigerator four cold bottles of Amstel. Mr. Dahlal did not vote for Hamas, but said he would support the party if it made good on its main campaign promise, not to promote Islam but to improve the lives of Palestinians. This mostly Christian village, where Hamas nonetheless won a handful of votes, shows just one of thousands of problems: Taybeh Beer, one of the finest in the Arab world, is brewed here. Since its founding in 1987, Hamas has been an explicitly Islamic organization. Its slogan then was, "The Koran is our Constitution," and as Hamas gained power in the late 1980's, both through fighting Israel and with well-organized social programs, adherence to Islam unquestionably increased. In the first moments of victory, conflicting signals seemed to issue from Hamas members: Several were quoted as saying they would explore Islamic programs, from greater segregation of boys and girls in school to mandating head scarves, or hijabs. Those members have since said they were misquoted. At any rate, since those first hours when power began flowing to Hamas, its message has quickly shifted into unambiguous discipline. "Our principles are known, and we are willing to discuss them with anybody," said Mariam Marjan Saleh, a professor of Islamic law at Al Quds University in Jerusalem and a newly elected Hamas legislator. "But people are free to decide whether they want to accept it or not." She said, in fact, that Hamas would prove finally that Islam and democracy are not opposing ideas. "God willing, we will show the world a good model," she said. "We will prove to everyone that Islam and Muslims are the ones who have civilization. Our religion is a religion of freedom and democracy." On women's rights, Sheik Saleh, the former imam, noted that two of his daughters had graduated from college and a third was now in college studying public administration. He said that banning alcohol was "not even in our minds," and that Hamas would focus rather on governing well, fighting corruption and working for a just solution with Israel. But some Hamas members have also made it clear that their ultimate goal is an Islamic state - not forced, they say, but one that Palestinians, as observant Muslims, will one day demand on their own. To critics of Hamas, this is a fundamental worry. There have been a few public instances of Hamas members making decisions based on religion. Last summer, the Hamas mayor of Qalqilya, on the West Bank, banned an outdoor concert because of concerns about men and women mixing. But mostly, critics say, the pressure has been more social - encouraged but not ordered by Hamas. In Gaza, poorer and more observant than the West Bank, it is nearly impossible now to buy alcohol. The last public bar, the United Nations club, open mostly to foreigners, was destroyed by a bomb on Jan. 1. "In Gaza, any woman who doesn't wear a hijab - it is the people who criticize, not Hamas," said Muhanad Abdelhamid, a newspaper columnist. In the end, many Palestinians, even devout Muslims, said they believed Hamas understood that it was elected to bring to government honesty and strength, not Islamic rule. Bahiega Isiefan, 19, a student at Al Quds University who wears a head scarf, said her mother was worrying last weekend that one son about to be married would not be allowed, under the new Hamas leadership, to have a wedding with music. Ms. Isiefan said she could not believe Hamas would risk its new power so recklessly. "We are Muslims, we respect Islam," she said. "But we don't want things to get complicated by religious fanaticism." Greg Myre contributed reporting from Gaza for this article. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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