Hamas is accused of being moderate

Hamas, the Palestinian faction viewed by many in the West as a nest of terrorists and Islamic hard-liners, is battling a curious new epithet: moderate.

Fifteen months after a punishing Israeli offensive failed to dislodge Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip, rival resistance groups and some former supporters say the organization has become too political, too secular and too soft.

"People in the street say Hamas has changed," said Abu Ahmed, spokesman for the military wing of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group in Gaza that complained recently that Hamas had arrested four of its militants as they tried to attack Israeli soldiers near the border. "They're paying a price for that. People need to know that Hamas is still committed to the resistance."

As it struggles with tensions between its political and military wings, Hamas faces the classic juggling act of an armed resistance group that suddenly finds itself running a government rather than fighting to overthrow one. Some see a window for the West to reach out to Hamas moderates. But as it follows political and military paths at the same time, critics say Hamas is doing neither one particularly well.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-gaza-hamas-20100423,0,3952857.story