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** Why Allowing Hamas to Participate in the Upcoming Elections Would Be a Catastrophic Mistake ([link removed])
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • September 17, 2026 at 5:00 am
* Dr. Fadel Ashour, a [Palestinian] psychiatrist, behavioral-science professor and political analyst, has described in unusually blunt terms the psychological, social and political damage caused by Hamas and its ideology, which is rooted in Islamist principles, rejection of Israel's existence, armed struggle and the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state in its place.
* His message is urgent: Gaza cannot be rebuilt merely by putting up new buildings, repairing roads, or providing humanitarian assistance. The Palestinians' entire mindset must be rebuilt.
* "Over 20-25 years [of Hamas rule], a culture was established that normalized violence, legalized it, and glorified death as if it were a means of survival. This is extremely dangerous for an entire generation that grew up saturated with this culture." — Dr. Fadel Ashour, Palestinian psychiatrist, interview, Jusoor News, September 13, 2026.
* "A society that wants to win achieves victory through building, not through death and violence... When you open a school or a university, that is a victory. When you build a prosperous society that doesn't push its youth to flee, that is a victory. Making their lives a hell that everyone wants to escape from is a defeat." — Dr. Fadel Ashour, interview, Jusoor News, September 13, 2026.
* If Hamas is merely regarded as another political faction, then the international community will continue to accommodate a terrorist group, negotiate with a terrorist group, and incorporate a terrorist group into Gaza's political system.
* If Hamas, however, is understood from the outset as an Islamist armed organization that created a parallel society and subordinated Gaza's interests to its ideology and military objectives, the policy implications will be entirely different.
* "They [Hamas's leaders] took complete control of Gaza's economy. They crushed the commercial class, became the merchants, the importers, and the tax collectors themselves... They exploited society in a parasitic manner." — Dr. Fadel Ashour, interview, Jusoor News, September 13, 2026.
* "Hamas controlled the incoming external aid, taking it and selling it to fund itself... In the very midst of death and extreme poverty, they were looking to fund themselves from the begging done on behalf of the people.... Fundamentalist groups like this, are obsessed with two things: gaining access to money and getting that television shot for their media." — Dr. Fadel Ashour, interview, Jusoor News, September 13, 2026.
* What is important is the broad picture Ashour presents: an Islamist terrorist group that claims to exist for the Palestinian people has instead become an instrument for controlling, exploiting, and indoctrinating them.
* His assessment should be required viewing for anyone negotiating with Hamas. The question is not whether Hamas will hand over some weapons or accept a temporary political arrangement. The question is whether Gaza can ever develop a fundamentally different political and social culture while Hamas's ideology remains embedded in its society and institutions.
* Ashour is warning the international community not to make the mistake of believing that Gaza's problem can be solved simply by reaching an agreement with Hamas's leaders.
* A society cannot simultaneously teach its children that martyrdom and violence are heroic and expect these same children to build peaceful institutions, prosperous businesses, universities, and a functioning political system.
* That is why allowing Hamas to retain a political and military role — particularly by including Hamas-affiliated political figures in future elections — would only perpetuate the problem Ashour is describing.
* The members of the Board of Peace and the international community need to ask themselves a basic question: Hamas's ideology has helped produce a culture of violence, death, and destruction, so can Gaza really be successfully rebuilt while that ideology — along with its institutional machinery for perpetuating it — remains intact?
* The answer, it would seem, is unfortunately not.

A society cannot simultaneously teach its children that martyrdom and violence are heroic and expect these same children to build peaceful institutions, prosperous businesses, universities, and a functioning political system. Pictured: A Hamas gunman stands in a crowd of human shields in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip on October 13, 2025. (Photo by Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

For years, politicians, activists, journalists and organizations around the world have claimed to speak on behalf of the Palestinians. Many have blamed Israel for virtually every Palestinian problem while treating the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas as legitimate "resistance" movements whose political and military role should be preserved.

Now, a Palestinian psychiatrist who has lived and worked in the Gaza Strip is offering a rather different diagnosis.

Dr. Fadel Ashour, a psychiatrist, behavioral-science professor and political analyst, has described in unusually blunt terms the psychological, social and political damage caused by Hamas and its ideology, which is rooted in Islamist principles, rejection of Israel's existence, armed struggle and the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state in its place.

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