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Salafists Feel Betrayed By Hamas' Moderate Stance

Since Hamas took power in 2006, Salafists in Palestine have been disappointed by its reluctance to impose an Islamic emirate, writes Adnan Abu Amer.
Palestinian Salafists take part in a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 24, 2012. The black flag reads "There is no god but Allah and Mohammad is the prophet". The white sign reads "Where are the traitor Arab rulers". REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2YDGR
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From the very first day after Hamas won the legislative elections in early 2006, the decision-making circles of some neighboring countries feared that an "Islamic emirate,” as they called it, would be established on Palestinian lands.

Subsequent events revealed that Hamas did not establish an Islamic emirate in Palestine, nor did it enforce Shariah law either regionally or internally, out of a desire not to draw, at that particular stage, the ire of factions hostile to it. But by so doing, Hamas provoked the anger of extremist Islamic movements, which believed this inaction belittled their desire to impose a long-lost religious obligation.

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