Hamas no better than school bully

Every elementary school had its bully. We all remember them – with their greasy hair, faded… Every elementary school had its bully. We all remember them – with their greasy hair, faded jeans and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” T-shirts. They’d steal our lunch money and call us names. Nobody liked them, but we had to put up with them anyway.

There’s a school out there in some undisclosed location that’s also having this problem. The bully’s name is Hamas. He is just as bad as a bully could get. He has one of those Napoleon complexes, always trying to prove how tough he is to other people. He is always causing trouble, messing up the lunchroom and throwing tantrums in front of the teachers. The student body walks the halls in a constant state of fear because nobody knows when Hamas will pop up and do something bad.

The person he picks on the most is this little kid named Israel. He is in the homeroom right next to Hamas. Israel is a good guy – very smart, very nice, and always willing to lend a hand. Most of the class likes Israel. He can get a little cocky at times, but for the most part he is a very important member of the classroom community.

Hamas is really mean to Israel. He focuses much of his wrath on him. He rips Israel’s clothes and messes up his hair. He steals Israel’s backpack and says it is his. He even makes Israel cry by hurting him and then telling all of his bullying buddies that Israel doesn’t even exist. Hamas is very cruel.

Nobody really knows what to do about Hamas. They know that he will never be content with anything they give him and that the terror and pain will not stop. Some of the bigger kids in the grade, George and Tony, try to help Israel out, but their strength does nothing to slow Hamas down. Some people say that they didn’t do enough, that they only tell people that they are friends with Israel, but in reality have a lot of other things that they care a lot more about.

Even worse, the principal, Mr. U.N., does absolutely nothing to solve the problem. He sounds concerned when Israel and other kids go to his office with bloody noses, but never really takes action. All he does is send out messages over the loudspeaker about respecting one another and not being mean, but after that locks his office door and does not stop anybody from bullying.

And it’s getting even worse. Now, Hamas, who has already taken control of his homeroom through terror and force, has convinced his teacher, Mr. Abbas, to share the power and decision making with him. Mr. Abbas didn’t really have a choice, so he agreed.

Hamas thought that this would make his reign over the class look more legitimate in the eyes of the rest of the school. He thought it would get people to stop complaining about him and his methods, but he was wrong. Everybody, especially Israel, saw through Hamas’ plan. No matter what mask he puts on, everybody knows that Hamas is still a bully and is not to be trusted.

Hamas hurts innocent people everyday. He hides behind the philosophies and morals that he has warped in order to justify his actions. Not only should the heads of the other classes not work or deal with him, they should give him the same treatment that Hamas gives Israel – not acknowledging his existence.

The only problem with that is that Hamas will not let himself be ignored. He’ll hurt more people. He’ll use senseless violence to make political statements. And, despite what we’d all like to think, there will always be kids out there willing to quietly support Hamas, either by directly assisting him or by merely looking the other way.

Hamas and Mr. Abbas think that it’s fine to run a classroom with bullies. They care a lot more about themselves than other people, both in their own class and others. They will not be content with control of just one classroom, and will continue bullying for more power.

So, what is the solution? Whose responsibility is it to stop Hamas’ bullying? In a perfect world, it would be Principal U.N., but there’s no guarantee that Hamas would listen to him even if he did do something.

What about Israel? Is this just his problem, or should everybody have to help out? The outcome of this struggle will most likely affect more than just a small part of the school, and others should be helping out just out of common decency. However, because he is the main target and he’s in the class right next to him, the defense should start from Israel, no matter how small he is.

Being the biggest kids, is it George and Tony’s responsibility? Is it fair to put this onus on them? They have the resources and have had their own problems with bullies in the past, and it should be difficult for them to sit back and watch kids get bullied for no reason.

So where does that leave us? The answer is nowhere. Nobody really knows what to do about the Hamas problem. Even with the legitimacy of Mr. Abbas on his side, Hamas is still nothing but an irrational bully, and it’s going to be a while until somebody figure out a solution.

Sam never gave up his lunch money. Email him at seg23@pitt.edu.