Hamas is desperately trying to prove its credibility, but Western leaders are determined not to recognize it.
Last Wednesday, Hamas secured the release of BBC correspondent, Alan Johnston, who was seized at gunpoint on his way home in Gaza on March the 12th. After reuniting with his family in Lochgoil, Argyll, Johnston told the BBC: "It really is hard to believe that just four days ago I was back in that cell in the depths of Gaza City and here I am back with my family in this beautiful, peaceful place."
"It was an appalling experience, as you can imagine… Sixteen weeks kidnapped… It was sometimes terrifying," he added, describing how "countless times I dreamed of being free and then woke up in the same place.”
Johnston, who was transported to Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza and prime minister in the government dismissed by President Mahmoud Abbas last month, had breakfast with Gaza's most important Hamas leaders before leaving with the British consular officials.
Despite the fact that his release showed Hamas' good intentions, it was met with resentment from Israeli and Western authorities, who announced that they have no intentions of considering Hamas anything but a terrorist organization.
"It would be premature to expect an immediate impact on relations between the European Union and Hamas," said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. The policy toward Hamas involves "fundamental issues that have not changed," she added.
This negative announcement comes after all the positive changes that Hamas has made in Gaza after it seized the coastal strip last month.
Luckily, some people showed some appreciation of Hamas' efforts, including Johnston himself, who credited the organization that took over Gaza while he was locked up there with securing his release.
According to the International Herald Tribune, Johnston acknowledged that Hamas has brought discipline to Gaza as his kidnappers were far more relaxed before Hamas seized the strip. "The guards were suddenly worried," he said, and the whole atmosphere changed. Johnston said he was sure that "if Hamas had not turned the heat on in a big way, I'd still be in that room."
Many media outlets in the Middle East have also hailed Hamas for securing Johnston’s release. Al Quds Al Arabi reported that Hamas should soon be considered a force that respects the law and preserves innocent lives. It also said Hamas has shown that it is ready to cooperate positively with this world which is opposed to it and considers it a terrorist movement.
Despite Western reluctance to appreciate Hamas’ efforts, the group still hopes to reverse the crippling financial sanctions that have been slapped on the Palestinians after Hamas’ election victory last year. According to Hamas’ officials, 31,500 employees of the Palestinian Authority out of a total of more than 150,000, including security forces and civil servants, would not receive salaries because they had been hired by Hamas.
On the other hand, all civil servants loyal to Fatah in the occupied West Bank are receiving their salaries after Israel decided to release monthly transfers of up to $60m worth of customs duties to the Western-backed, Abbas-led government; a move aimed at isolating Hamas’ in Gaza.
This ill-treatment of Gaza civil servants was slammed by Hamas as well as several Fatah officials, including Jibril Rajoub, a former security chief and popular Fatah leader, who stresses that Palestinian citizens must not fall victim to such political excesses.
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