Hamas shopping cart full as Israel empties Al Aqsa

In a speech last week given at Al Azhar, Ismail Haniya rallied worshipers during the Friday congregational prayers in light of  the plight of Palestinian, Muslim worshipers in Jerusalem, who were being violently put down by Israeli forces. While the screen split between the reality of Al Aqsa under the Judiazation of Jerusalem and Haniya's speech, one side of the screen shows suffering while the other shows lobbying done for an interest outside of Jerusalem. Haniya was loading his shopping cart with Egyptian cries of support, televised into propaganda,  after cutting ties with Bashar al Assad. Leading the chanting and later being seen paraded in the street, Haniya decried Iran, Hezbollah, and Bashar al Assad in Egypt's capital and heart of its own uprisings. 

Hamas is in a precarious situation as it is being even further isolated following the election fall-out and violence within Palestine. Hamas members enjoy no security in the West Bank as Palestinian Authority and Israel collaborate to censor and arrest all Hamas activists in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, the siege in place by Israel is still ongoing as Gazans face a continuous energy crisis, let alone the now typical air strikes against Palestinian civilians.  Meanwhile Jordan has banned Hamas and arrested leaders like Khaled Mashal, who then went onto Syria, which became his vocal ground and Hamas' diplomatic chair. 

 

But the bloody scenes in Syria, the famous cry of Egypt's "erhal" and threats against Iranian roles in the region have Hamas loading up on political terms and agendas to land them a safe place to maneuver. Rather than upholding their traditional Islamic, grassroots foundation, Hamas has fully entered the political scene as they officially disband from Syria's Bashar al Assad.

This has in turn left the Muslims in Al Aqsa a mere political piece to relate to the Egyptians, who have held very strong ties with the Syrian people. While Haniya gave his speech, Israeli violence was inflicted on the  third holy site of Islam and also in Hebron as protesters rallied against apartheid blockades within the city and around the Ibrahami Mosque.

Much like the Palestinian Authority, who manipulates the terminology the West feeds it, Hamas cannot be ignored as a body that is more consumed these days with its own security and petty and unproductive Arab politics, than the actual popular struggle, and perhaps this is the ultimate price they paid once they entered the scene of politics: too much talk, confounding interests, as the people, unfortunately suffer. Haniya simply said what the audience wanted to hear, and no one in that audience seemed to be a worshiper from Jerusalem.