brooklyn13, " You're throwing everything into a big bucket and conflating a few distinct issues and then throwing them at the wall to see what will stick (I think the settlers in the WB are barbarians and deserve no quarter, so don't throw that one at me) "
is mostly bullshit. We agree on the settlers, and you've been told by about everyone here that you are taking things to personally. Putting the settlers in there was simply stating one of the myriad of facts which drove Palestinians to prefer Hamas to the PLO. And that democratic election. The settlers were not in the slightest thrown at you.
I'm fully aware of how Hamas leaders have grown rich. Mostly levies at the Rafah crossing, the only one open now. I'd guess all others here well know that too. Is good if you just caught up on that.
"Gaza could have been a world class travel destination, a beautiful beachside resort area with a booming economy. Instead Hamas stole everything from the Palestinians and hold them hostage to their apocalyptic vision."
Damn right it could have been. Good point! Imagine if Israel hadn't turned it into an open air prison. Which brings us back to the continuing illegal settlement in the West Bank and the zealous Zionists settlers.
I might as well have brought in something like, if Australian aborigines had the abomb would Britain have sent there criminals to Australia after the U.S. stopped the British from sending them to their shores.