Catharine KavanaghSandra, your point about Hamas being elected is true. I recently had a conversation with friends who questioned how much of Hamas’ backing came (during the 2006 elections) and comes from (at present) true support, versus how much of their support “exists” through elements of force/extortion/threats from Hamas over civilians. While we know that there certainly is genuine support for Hamas amongst some Gazans, I thought that this was an important and often-forgotten or -ignored element of the conversation. Many Palestinians are victims of Hamas too.
