It is not politically fair or intellectually honest to make a straightforward comparison between Hamas and Fatah in today's circumstances. Fatah has held power for nearly 40 years in the Palestinian national community, and Hamas has shared power for just over a year under conditions of an international financial and political boycott and an Israeli military and economic siege. We don't know what Hamas can or might do when it can exercise power under normal conditions.
We do know that Fatah failed miserably, and repeatedly, despite having many opportunities and much international goodwill. Its early successes in promoting the Palestinian national cause were negated by its incompetence after assuming limited power in the occupied territories after 1993.
It is also important to acknowledge the negative role of the U.S., Israel, Europe, Arab countries and others in allowing conditions in Palestine to reach their present state. Palestinian leaders did not act alone or in a vacuum all these years. Israeli colonization of Palestinian lands never stopped during the past century. No wonder the Palestinians have reacted with such violence and internal incoherence.
Being subjected to the world's longest military occupation and the most sustained colonization drive, carried out by Israel and supported by the U.S. and others, will do that to you.
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