Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, doesn’t want his territory to become like another US-backed wasteland, Afghanistan:
The Hamas co-founder was bitterly critical of Western policy towards Hamas and Gaza over the four and half years since the Islamic faction won the last Palestinian elections. “Why did the Western people boycott Hamas after the election?” he asked. “Because they want a new Karzai in Palestine”. He was equally contemptuous of Western support for the blockade imposed by Israel when Hamas seized control in a short but bloody civil war with its Fatah rivals and coalition partners in June 2007. He claimed the closure of Gaza conformed to Western definitions of “terrorism” by using “violence” to change the attitudes of its victims. “I am asking you, why did you accept this process four years ago?”