No Sympathy.

Hamas has officially taken power. The Western and Israeli response has been, or will be, a sort of economic warfare. Hamas will be deprived of most of its foreign aid, unless Arab countries can pick up the slack. For some time now, Israel has already been engaged in this sort of activity. Canada has officially ceased funding the PA. No doubt, America and many other Western nations will soon follow suit. Former president Jimmy Carter warned against such economic strategies. He fears that they ultimately will be seen as punishing the Palestinian people, which might make them turn even more against the West and Israel (I'm not sure thats even possible; they did vote in Hamas, after all). Carter had more to say:

"My belief is now Hamas wants stable, domestically-oriented policies in the government to deal with the problems of the Palestinian people... My belief is if they are treated fairly, they might very well be less likely to resort to violence...Eventually, they are going to have to acknowledge Israel's right to exist and resolve their problems with Israel in a peaceful way. No doubt about that. They cannot escape that international mandate which they have to fulfill."

It would be great to think that the weight of reality would eventually pressure Hamas to change, as Carter suggests. History however might suggest otherwise; this problem is 60 years old, and still Israel's right to exist hasn't been acknowledged. Even Hamas itself disagrees with Carter's evaluation:

Officials from Hamas have said they will not compromise their principles for aid, and that alternative funding could come from Arab and Islamic countries.

It is so absurd to hear people complaining about how bad the West and Israel are being towards the Palestinians right now. Who are we to deprive a legitimately elected Palestinian government of financial aid? Ask yourself this: who is being more rediculous here? Hamas is demanding that the West and Israel continue to supply it with money, even though it is a terrorist organization that remains dedicated to the destruction if its neighbor through violent means. All that Israel and the West are demanding that Hamas change the wording in its charter, to renounce violence and recognize Israel. If Hamas just changes the text on a piece of paper, the aid money will flow once again.

A controversial thing Israel has done is to withhold Palestinian tax money that Israel collects on the Palestinians' behalf. This is money that is, arguably, Palestinian money that Israel really has no right to hold. At first glance, this seems to be a legitimate Palestinian gripe. On closer inspection, it is nothing of the sort. Israel agreed to collect taxes on Palestinian behalf as part of an agreement reached in 1995 between the two sides. Hamas has refused to accept this particular agreement. Therefore, it is rediculous to expect Israel to continue to provide the money, considering the Palestinians no longer legally recognize the deal. Incidentally, Hamas has refused to acknowledge all past peace agreements made with Israel. That is why Fatah (the other Palestinian party that was beaten in the elections) has refused to form a coalition government with Hamas.

The peace process is going nowhere with Hamas at the reins. Ideally, the West and Israel would want to see the Fatah party regain power in the next Palestinian election. How can we expect to see Fatah regain power if we make it easy for Hamas to rule? Besides, as Hamas remains dedicated to the destruction of Israel, then a de facto state of war exists between the two parties right now. It is true that there currently is a ceasefire. However, as Hamas remains committed to its original charter, should I therefore conclude that Hamas really wants peace? Or should I conclude that Hamas is observing a ceasefire because they currently do not have the power to harm Israel in a meaningful way? If Hamas had the power, do you think they'd observe the ceasefire? Doubtful. Therefore, I see no reason why Israel should be expected to aid its enemy, or allow it to become powerful.

Incidentally, Egypt has proposed that the Israelis give Hamas six months to prove that it is committed to peace. If Hamas is still being stubborn in six months, then Israel would be "free to act as it saw fit". I personally don't think the Israelis owe Hamas anything at this point. However, should the Israelis follow this route, I believe ultimately people will give them more credit for at least trying.

Then, in six months, when Hamas refuses to change, nobody will blame the Israelis for doing what has to be done.