With the neo palestinian parliamentary elections having ended earlier this evening, it looks as though Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party has carved out a narrow victory. Initial polls indicate that Fatah has won 63 parliamentary seats, with Hamas winning 58. What is clear is that Hamas will be part of the government. Theoretically, they could even form the government.
Here’s a quick refresher on what Hamas stands for.
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”—-“The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.”—-“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
Hamas have clearly articulated their intention to remain committed to this charter.
Bear in mind that the voter turnout was over 70%. Thus based on the above polling figures, almost 30% of voters have voted for Hamas. This means that 30% of the voters openly want the destruction of the State of Israel, and the continuation of terrorism against her.
Earlier today, this is what the US had to say about Hamas’ inclusion in the elections:
“Our views on Hamas are very clear,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. “We do not deal with Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Under current circumstances I don’t see any change in that,” he said.He declined to say whether Washington would cut off aid to the Palestinians if Hamas was part of a new government. “We’ll see what the election results are. I’m not going to play a what-if scenario,” he said.“There is a contradiction here when it comes to a political entity that is also operating outside of the political process and engaging in violence and has called for the destruction of a neighboring country,” he said, adding that that contradition would have to be solved.
But what exactly does this mean? Surely, the US should be doing more than demanding that Abbas dismantle Hamas, and other terrorist organizations, while all the time dealing with Abbas and holding him up as a credible peace partner. He needs to be held accountable for failing to live up to his obligations. This means not pressuring Israel, nor insisting on any concessions until which time Abbas dismantles the terrorist organizations. This is not likely, given that his own party is one.
