hamas is also trying to get itself a political identification after Arafat…i personally do not see anything wrong with it…
Hamas stakes claim for power
By Alan Johnston
BBC News, Gaza
A Gaza City mosque at sunset
Hamas is an Islamic movement rooted in Gaza’s mosques
The Taqwa mosque draws its worshippers from a northern district of Gaza City that is very much Hamas territory.
And the message from the imam was heavily political.
Wrapped in his long, grey cloak, he began by asking God for the recovery and safe return of Yasser Arafat.
But the rest of his address was filled with a sense that the Arafat era had come to an end - and that it was time for change.
The imam made no direct mention of Hamas. But he talked of the need for those who had stood against Israel - those who had “bled and felt pain” - to have a place in the Palestinian leadership.
It was a time for what he described as “men of honour” to come forward.
Two faces of Hamas
The imam’s message resonated with his audience.
Hamas is reviled in Israel as the organisation that has killed more than any other with its suicide bombs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere.
Hamas gunmen in Gaza
The Palestinian people want leaders who come from the trenches of the resistance
Gaza worshipper
Profile: Hamas
But to the worshippers at the Taqwa mosque the Hamas men are heroes of what they see as a fight to end the Israeli occupation, not just of Gaza and the West Bank, but of all the land that used to make up Palestine.
And these young men have contempt for the Palestinian political establishment - which they regard as deeply corrupt.
“The Palestinian people want leaders who come from the trenches of the resistance,” said one of the worshippers.
Hamas supporters believe that it is time for the organisation to be drawn into the national leadership structure, along with other factions.
And the organisation made exactly that demand over the weekend during talks in Gaza with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei.
One of the top Hamas men in the Gaza Strip, Ismael Haniya, spelt out the group’s demands.
It wants a joint leadership established that would give Hamas and other factions a say in decision-making.
This new body would oversee the situation until elections could be held.
Militants aim for influence
At another meeting, earlier in the day, Mr Qurei had heard similar demands from the militant group Islamic Jihad and from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Mr Hania said that the prime minister had been receptive to the idea, and that there would be further negotiations.
Mr Qurei himself did not comment after the meeting. But his foreign minister, Nabil Sha’ath, described it as very positive, and said there would be more talks.
A Gaza mural shows Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock
Yasser Arafat’s presence is still felt throughout Gaza
But nothing concrete was announced, and it is difficult to tell at this stage whether this pressure for a much more inclusive leadership structure will gain real momentum.
For now at least, Mr Arafat is still on the scene, and so many issues regarding the transition to any new regime remain vague.
At least initially though, two men - Prime Minister Qurei and his predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas - look poised to take over, perhaps jointly.
At this time, as they make repeated appeals for unity, they must at least appear to be receptive to demands for a more broad-based leadership arrangement.
And analysts here in Gaza believe that Mr Qurei and Mr Abbas might accept a role for Hamas and other factions in some sort of advisory forum.
But they are unlikely in the end to agree to a body that would have real decision-making powers.
They might well argue that that is the role of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and, once again, invite Hamas to join it.