Hamas wins converts as talks fail

According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, Fatah's support has dropped from 37 to 29 percent since the Camp David talks collapsed in July 2000, while support for the Islamists increased from 17 to 27 percent. The poll also found that 46 percent of Palestinians desire an Islamic state after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

There are, indeed, regional implications in the rising popularity of Hamas. Satellite feed of the intifada violence has arguably helped it have a broader impact on the Middle East and Islamic world than almost any other period of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Viewers have watched the bloodshed round-the-clock on satellite channels such as Qatari-run Al-Jazeera. That, some experts say, helps account for an apparent increase in funding for Palestinian Islamists, particularly in the oil-rich Gulf states.

And in neighboring Egypt, the government has been investigating a group of suspected Islamic militants. A lawyer who represents some of them and other political sources in Cairo say that the group was involved in raising money "for the intifada" in mosques and university campuses. Although it's not clear whether they were collecting money for Hamas, for many Muslims, the group enjoys higher regard than Arafat's Fatah or his Palestinian Authority (PA).

"Unlike the PA which is usually accused of being inefficient and corrupt, Hamas is known to be of clean conduct," says Prof. Ziad Abu Amar, a member of the Palestinian legislative council and an expert on Hamas. "Muslims are obliged to perform zakkat [giving charity] and for them, they wouldn't find any better direction than to send that money to Hamas, who will both help the poor and fight Israel."

The question of funding has become such a sensitive topic in the wake of Sept. 11 and the hunt for Al Qaeda's benefactors that Hamas officials decline to discuss who supports them or what kind of services they offer the public.

Hamas is growing resentful of what it sees as US pressure on Arab countries to ensure donations to the Palestinians go to the PA, not Islamic groups, says Ismail Abu Shenab, another senior Hamas official in Gaza. Hamas has pulled back from official association with various Islamic institutions and charities here because, observers say, it fears that Arafat will be pressured to close them down. The West is beginning to paint all Islamic institutions as dangerous, says Mr. Abu Shenab.

"This misunderstanding of Hamas makes people angry about what the [US] intelligence services are trying to do. Islam asks us to take care of our neighbors," he says. "There are many attacks on these institutions from the Israeli government, and they want to destroy them and are inciting Americans to make these institutions the enemy. They are pressuring us to surrender."

Mid-sentence, the electricity in Abu Shenab's home flickers out for the second time.

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