Posted on 01/31/2006 3:17:34 PM PST by presidio9
Call it humour with a fundamentalist twist.
Jokes poking fun at Hamas and looking ahead to life under the Islamic militant group have been making the rounds via cellphone text messages Palestinians have been sending each other since it crushed the Fatah faction in a January 25 election.
"Hamas stopped all suicide bomber operations ahead of the election, because they needed every vote they could get," read one popular joke.
Hamas carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. But the group has largely abided by a cease-fire Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared with Israel nearly a year ago.
And while Hamas officials have pledged publicly not to impose Islamic law in the occupied West Bank or in the Gaza Strip, that hasn't stopped some Palestinians from taking an irreverent shot at the movement's bedrock religious attitudes.
"A fine for going through a red light is two prayers," said Saleh Zahran, a resident of the largely secular West Bank city of Ramallah, reading one of the jokes that popped up on his cellphone.
Maurice Backlet, a psychology professor at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, said the humour was an expression of real concern among many Palestinians about the future -- despite their overwhelming support of Hamas in the poll.
Many secular Palestinians who voted for Hamas say they did so to protest against years of corruption in Fatah and not out of identification with the movement's Islamic agenda.
"The people are worried about what Hamas will do and they are expressing their fears indirectly with jokes and mockery," Backlet said.
A Fatah member who only gave her name as Munira said: "I voted for Hamas because I wanted to shake Fatah to wake up. It has gone too far with corruption and chaos, but since many of us did this, we did indeed shake Fatah -- but to death."
Hamas won by a landslide in Ramallah, the most Westernised Palestinian city, where young women dressed in tight, revealing clothes now jokingly greet each other with the traditional "peace be upon you" rather than a casual "hi".
As one joke put it: "Get your Hamas headscarf now at a discount, because you will have to get it sooner or later."
hahahahaha bang! bang!
no laughing, infidel.
Let this be a lesson to all you whiners who intend to vote Democrat or Independent to teach the Republican leadership a lesson.
Try putting the screws to them with your voice before the elections. The voting booth is no place to act like a DU'er.
"I have no job, I have no future, I live on welfare.....but I do have a cell phone with text messaging......."
Third world welfare recipients without a clue. I wonder what happens when the cell phone towers, electricity, and water go off.....?
Reminds me of the swimsuit competition at the Islamic Fundamentalist beauty pagent "Oooohhh... check out THAT nose!"
Yes. Let's all lockstep down and vote Republican. We'll have to wade through illegals to get to the voting booth but I'm sure if we just have a few more RINO's, everything will be fine.
As long as we're talking about palestinian humor: You know how many Palis it takes to change a lightbulb?
BTW:
You know how many Palis it takes to change a lightbulb?
None. They'd rather live in darkness and blame it on the Jews.
You knew it was a venomous snake when you put it in your pocket.
Great way to put it.
Yes. Let's all lockstep down and vote Republican. We'll have to wade through illegals to get to the voting booth but I'm sure if we just have a few more RINO's, everything will be fine.
I knew there'd be someone ready to stomp their feet and wail. To you, Sir or Madam, grow up. Use your right to be heard! Letters, faxes, editorials,... whatever. You're way of thinking and pulling a "Perot" in the voting booth will just keep putting the screws to Conservatives and YOUR children and/or grandchildren.
As if the Democrats will do anything about border control. Sheesh.
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