Fatah has done nothing for the Palestinians except to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was inevitable that, given a chance to vote for someone else, the Palestinians would do it - particularly if they could vote for a group that, like many Islamic organizations, gives financial and other aid to any Arab who needs it, and which pursues a program which plays on Palestinian pride.
Come to think of it, what just happened in Pakistan is pretty much the same as what happened in the US in 1994: people got fed up with ineffectual government and went for the alternative, no matter how dangerous it seemed. If moods like the current Palestinian mood did not sweep over the US, George Bush would not be president now.
I think the Hamas victory is a good thing. At worst, it should dispel a lot of delusions, particularly those held by the American administration. The Palestinian cards are on the table now. There can be no confusion about where they stand - at the moment anyway - and Israel should be prepared for perpetual war.
On the other hand, there is the possibility of real peace. Fatah could never negotiate peace because it could not control Hamas. It is far more likely that Hamas will be able to control Fatah's fighters. If Hamas decided to make peace, they could probably accomplish it.
Of course that would require a change of direction for Hamas. But there is no reason that should be impossible. All we have heard so far is rebellious rhetoric. Let's see what happens when they take the reins.
It will be necessary for Hamas, the Israelis and the US to talk in order to accomplish anything. All parties currently hotly insist that they will never sit down to palaver. Somebody will have to blink. It will not be George Bush, who is now looking at a serious threat to his End of Days vision of the shape of the middle East. It could be Israel, and it could be Hamas. We won't know for at least a year.
What we can do now is stop calling Hamas terrorists. The mere use of the word will handcuff any American move toward peace, since we insist we will not negotiate with terrorists. OK, so don't call Hamas terrorists. Now we can talk.
The critical question is whether - as many say - Hamas are Islamic fundamentalists, or whether they are a geo-political force - what they would describe as freedom fighters. There is no possibility of compromise with a fundamentalist force - not at least for a long time to come. But if Hamas is thinking politically, they may be able to see things as they ought to see them.
Listening to a Hamas demonstration today on NBC Nightly News, I heard music in the background of their celebrations. That says more to me than any words I have heard. If Hamas were like the Taliban, there would be no music. Once again, I suspect we may be hamstringing our ability to be effective internationally by perceiving an opponent as something they are not. Palestinian "democracy" is a couple of days old. Israeli democracy, less than 60 years. American democracy is 230 years old. Logic would dictate that Americans ought to be expected to grow up sooner than Israelis or Palestinians. Of course, I don't see any signs of that in AngelinaJolieVille.