When Arabs holler victory, horselaughs resonate across the planet.
The reason for this is that, in general, Arab reasoning, mentality and mindset are radically different from those bestowed upon the rest of the species.
So the world is now laughing at the sight of Hamas aficionados celebrating electoral “victory”. Obviously, Palestinians learned nothing from the lessons afforded by a century-long string of defeats.
Those who won the elections in the Palestinian agglomerates within Israel are the political heirs of defunct movements that had embraced all-or-nothing attitudes.
Israel’s leaders have always instigated these attitudes, as their motto seems to be: if it comes down to choosing between all or nothing, let the Palestinians get the nothing and we get the rest. That is why it has always been vital to Israel that the Palestinian side should always include in its ranks a virulent all-or-nothing faction. At historic junctures in the conflict, Israeli strings would prop up that faction to the front stage. And it so happens that at these junctures Israel has invariably been faced with the difficult all-or-nothing choice, and has invariably chosen the "all" option.
In the past, when Palestinians hollered victory, Israelis rejoiced.
But this time around, the Palestinians outsmarted the Israelis: they lost their State, but they won the elections in return.
