JERUSALEM -- The recent terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, although carried out by the renegade Islamic Jihad organization, put the Hamas-led Palestinian government in a spot. Not in opposition anymore, but in charge of the destiny of their people, everything falls under its responsibility.
Since their victory in the January elections, Hamas leaders have been pressed by all to drop terrorism and to recognize Israel. Yet the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, called the suicide attack ''a legitimate act of self-defense.'' So, the world wants the Hamas to change. But can it?
History and religion
A look at the Hamas Charter, drafted in 1988, raises serious doubts.
• First you have the historical rubbish, about the Jews supposedly being behind every revolution and war, including the World War II, which -- listen to this -- they themselves instigated to make financial profits.
• More serious is the religious stuff, which declares the whole land of Palestine a holy land (waqf), thus making the liberation of the land by all means the duty of all devout Palestinian Muslims. No one is exempted from this call, because it's God's will. This is in contrast to the PLO Charter, which was essentially political, and therefore could be adjusted to reality.
Some people, however, do believe that the Hamas can change. The Turks, for example. Although Turkish Foreign Minister Abudullah Gul said that his country stood behind the West's condition to withhold aid from the Palestinian government unless the Hamas renounces violence and abandons its commitment to Israel's destruction, he nevertheless met a Hamas delegation in Istanbul in February. Elaborating on that, Gul said, "Since Hamas won a democratic election, from now on it must act in a democratic way.''
Well said, except that democrats don't engage in terrorism or condone it, and the Turks know it. Earlier this month I went to Istanbul for the Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy. The local press was filled with stories about the unrest in the southeast of the country, demanding zero-tolerance toward the Kurdish underground, PKK, which everybody called a terrorist organization.
On my way home, I was riding the taxi to Ataturk Airport, trying to sum up the assembly. So many people of goodwill, struggling for democracy; so many heroes, who dare defy mighty authoritarian regimes; so many innovative ideas. And yet, so little change in the state of world democracy. I was ready to resign myself to the fact that, maybe in my region as well, nothing really can ever change, that maybe Solomon the Wise had it right: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.''
And then, it happened: a change, a real change, occurring right before my eyes! As the taxi came to a full stop at the terminal, I asked the driver if he had change for $100, and he said that yes, he had. I handed him the $100 bill, and lo and behold, with a simple trick my father-in-law had used to entertain my kids, it turned in his fingers into a one dollar bill!
I insisted I gave him $100, and he denied it. We soon were exchanging hearty insults -- he in Turkish, I in Hebrew, enriched with basic Arabic. Since there was no policeman in sight, and I was going to miss my flight, I gave up.
A litmus test
Must all changes be negative like this? I refuse to accept that. In the Middle East, you must be an optimist. There must be something you can do about the situation. Deadlock and helplessness are not carved in stone. On the spot, I decided to write a complaint to Kadir Topbas, the mayor of Istanbul. After all, the assembly's highlight was a dinner he had hosted, where he called upon me (and the other 600 guests) to enjoy the famous Istanbul hospitality.
I'm sure the mayor will answer my solemn appeal and will find a way to catch the robber-driver and return my stolen money. Well, I hope he will. OK, I don't know. But you know what? I'll turn this into some kind of a litmus test: If that happens, then everything is possible. Hamas might denounce terrorism, and Israelis and Palestinians might dwell next to eac