Palestinians committed a “form of collective suicide” by voting for Hamas, Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh told an audience of about 50 people Thursday night at the McCormick Tribune Forum.

Students for Israel, Northwestern’s Fiedler Hillel Center, Hasbara Fellowships and Schmooze magazine brought Toameh, an Arab Israeli, to discuss his experience reporting on Palestinian affairs at the Jerusalem Post.

Palestinian people voted for Hamas because they were angry with the Palestinian Authority, Toameh said.

“I don’t agree with those who argue that a vote for Hamas is a vote for the destruction of Israel,” Toameh said. “The name of the game was ‘Let’s punish the Palestinian Authority,’ and they did this by voting for Hamas.”

Hamas is a militant organization that has perpetrated many suicide attacks against Israel in the past, although it has mostly abided by a cease-fire during the past year. Its charter does not acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Hamas would not receive international aid if it did not alter its position on Israel.

The Palestinian people were angry with Fatah, the former ruling party, because of corruption, Toameh said. Hamas offered a promise of economic prosperity and ethics reform. Foreign financial aid was not getting through to people but was being taken by government officials, Toameh said.

Toameh said he predicted Hamas would win if there were free and democratic elections in Palestine.

“The Hamas platform was, ‘Vote for me and I’ll bring peace and reform,'” Toameh said. “If the Hamas platform had been to destroy Israel, it would not have won.”

Toameh said he was not surprised by Hamas’ win. Rather, he was surprised because Hamas won by a landslide.

Now, Hamas will face the challenge of having to govern the country. Toameh said even if Hamas controls the presidency, it will not be able to form a cabinet by itself because Fatah controls too many parts of the government. As a result, Hamas might become more moderate.

“I think Hamas’ president and government will force people to change their tactics because they now have the responsibility to help people,” Toameh said. “However, I don’t see Hamas dropping its charter.”

He said Hamas has no real plan to offer Palestinians, and its presence in the government will further isolate Palestine from other countries.

Toameh ended by talking about being an Arab in Israel.

“I don’t deny that I and most other Israeli Arabs have a crisis of identity,” he said. “We want to live in Israel but feel the state does not represent us. However, there is room for minorities. We are just saying that the battle is for integration, not separation.”

He said he feels many Israeli Jews do not make the distinction between Israeli Arabs and other Arabs even though Israeli Arabs can serve as a bridge between the two communities.

Marda Dunsky, a Medill professor who attended the speech, said she disagreed with some of the points that Toameh made.

“He made a number of characterizations that did not jive with reality,” Dunsky said.

Dunsky, who worked for the Jerusalem Post from 1988 to 1990, said Toameh made it sound like there was no economic development in Palestinian territories but that she saw contrary proof during her travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah in December.

Stephanie Olsen, a McCormick sophomore and co-president of Students for Israel, said it was important for students to hear another voice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I feel a lot of people are hesitant when an Israeli person talks about the issue, but since he is Arab, it gives people a perspective from the other side,” Olsen said.

Eric Johnson, a Weinberg sophomore, said he appreciated the personal nature of the speech.

“I liked how he took a personal view of the events by saying, ‘This is what I saw,’ rather than making absolute political statement,” Johnson said.

Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].