Hamas in Charge - Now "Put Up" or "Shut Up"

I actually believe that the recent Hamas victory in the Palestinian parliamentary election could be a good thing because it is time for Hamas to 'put up or shut up'.

At first glance, it appears to be the West's worst nightmare--an argument against democratic elections in extremist Islamic nations. And although it may be more of a Palestinian uprising against the corruption and greed of the Fatah party, it may have a very positive effect in the middle East in the long run.

First of all, Hamas is now not only out of the shadows, but clearly in charge of the Palestinian future. They have the responsibility (and now the authority) to make life better for the Palestinian people. They are now in charge--of mundane but critically important things such as schools, healthcare, infrastructure, jobs, the economy. They are not deep in the skill-sets required for running a country (which presumably involves more than shooting AK-47s into the air and blowing themselves up).

Add to this the 'double-whammy' of losing billions in international aid as legitimate countries decline to assist a terrorist-run state. (According to this FoxNews story, the U.S. has contributed more than $1.7B to the area since 1993. I am shocked.)

So, Hamas will no longer have the luxury if sitting on the sidelines and fomenting insurrection against the Palestinian Authority for all of their internal and external political failures. They can no longer secretly leverage the misery of their people to induce them to produce suicide bombers.

They can no longer hide in the shadows and disavow knowledge and responsibility for terrorist activities that occur under their noses.

They can now decide whether they want to gain legitimacy in the court of world opinion by renouncing their desire to obliterate Israel and begin seeking peaceful solutions for their problems.

They have a clear choice--and a choice that will be transparent to all--do they continue down the path of destruction, war and terrorism or do work to create a better life for their people--a life of peace, prosperity and freedom?

As Golda Mier once said, "We can only have peace with the Palestinians when they start loving their children more than they hate Israel". The next few months will be interesting ones, indeed.