Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad criticized the Gaza Strip-ruling party for its political decisions saying that all Palestinian people, across the spectrum, must be given equal rights and importance.
He said that Hamas should extend its limited coverage of Palestinians and re-embrace the idea of diversity and a uniting and greater national identity.
In a long article published on his blog, Hamad says that Hamas has stalled for overbearing decades, failing to present a comprehensive political policy. He said that the party’s decisions are hardly keeping up with the pace of accelerated regional events.
“For 30 years, Hamas has not succeeded in crystallizing or adopting a mature strategic policy to attract the various components of society, missing golden opportunities that could strengthen its presence among the people," wrote Hamad, who held several positions within the controversial movement and is close to Yahya al-Sinwar, Gaza's newly elected prime minister. Sinwar also is the contentious military leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza.
Hamad believes that the movement's preoccupation with local governance came at the cost of its regional role—making way for Fatah to seize the opportunity of taking on a greater role in controlling the Palestinian political movement in Arab and internal arenas.
He pointed out that Hamas could have been a strong partner in the Palestine Liberation Organization and that it would have an influential decision in the Palestinian decision-making processes only if it first succeeds in settling its differences with Fatah.
Hamad considered that the basic problem facing Hamas since its inception is its failure to carry out real and practical reviews, and a comprehensive evaluation of its performance and practices in politics and governance. This is what makes the evaluation process vulnerable to exposure or detracting from it. He said that the movement is calculated to maintain its strength, attract young people, build a military force and a solid base of charitable work, and repel attempts to liquidate the case and adhere to the constants.
"Hamas needs a revolutionary development to alter its rhetoric, especially in terms of political awareness-- which is a great factor in the failure of Islamic movements that failed in the experience of governance," Hamad said.
Hamas-affiliated political analyst Ibrahim al-Madhoun criticized the movement saying it is unfair to subject the people to a crisis-making policy.
The political analyst from the West Bank, Essam Shawar, who is close to Hamas, said Hamad's article was not about criticism, but about secularism.
