Palestinian Election Roundup
- Israel to vote on inclusion of East Jerusalem in PLC election
- Telegraph: Hamas drops call for the end of Israel as poll nears
- Hamas vows to get on the Jerusalem ballot despite an Israeli ban
- Hamas’ participation seen by some as backtracking on previous policies
- Fatah has lost all favor in the eyes of the Palestinian public, says Amira Hass here and here
- The US has threatened to cut aid to the PA if Hamas is elected
- JPost’s David Horovitz shows why Hamas will win
It’s going to be a long year. If you believe that Hamas is serious about accepting Israel, then you’re out of your mind. You can’t kill an idea. Hamas is doing this out of practicality. Given the chance, they would turn around and shoot Israel in the back in a heartbeat. It’s so unfortunate that Fatah is losing support. What we need is a democratic PA that is not corrupt, and while that seems unlikely, a secular entity that at least gives the air of democratization is much better than an Islamic ruling party whose ideology allows no room for the state of Israel to exist.
I offer no solution right now. It is possible that should Israel and the US be forced to allow Hamas to assume power, then Hamas will be forced to adhere to a certain standard. In this case, should they slip ever so slightly, they would be blown away to kingdom come.
But in the best case scenario, Hamas would eventually accept and grow into its position as a ruling power presiding over a country with a burgeoning democracy. Over time, Hamas would moderate its views and become something similar to the ruling Islamic party in Turkey. I don’t think that Israel or the US would or should allow Palestine to become an Islamic theocracy.
I may be incredibly naieve, but it does seem that perhaps the stage is being set for Hamas to be dealt with much in the same way that the IRA has been dealt with by the UK government. We are only now just finding out to what lengths the UK government went to eliminate some of the more ideologial and lethal terrorists within the IRA during the Troubles, but now the IRA has been painted into a corner on the world stage through the engagement of the UK government with their leadership.
It could be that, now that Sheikh Yassin and some of the more hardline terrorists have been eliminated, Israel may attempt to paint Hamas into a political corner by engaging with them if they win a significant majority in the elections. Elected officials must be held responsible for protecting and bettering their constituents…Hamas would find it difficult not to be on the receiving end of negative global PR if they win seats in the PA government and don’t move to mend their terrorist ways.