Victory for Hamas in 1st ever Palestinian elections....
-
Fatah Party: Hamas Wins Palestinian Vote
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The Islamic militant group Hamas said Thursday it won control of the Palestinian parliament and officials from the ruling Fatah Party confirmed the estimate - though Palestinian election officials delayed the release of preliminary official results.
Also Thursday, the Palestinian Cabinet submitted their resignations on following the apparent Hamas victory in legislative elections, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia's office said, setting the stage for the Islamic group to lead a new Palestinian government.
Meanwhile, the claim by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was based on reporting by Hamas activists who observed the counting in the polling stations, the group said. He said Hamas had won about 70 seats, enough for a majority in the 132-seat parliament.
The outcome, if confirmed, would mean that Hamas will form the next Palestinian government and could jeopardize the Mideast peace process.
Officials with Fatah also said that Hamas had won about 70 seats, which would give the Islamists a majority in the 132-seat parliament. They spoke on condition of anonymity because counting in some districts was continuing.
Palestinian officials delayed the release of official results from the Palestinian legislative vote until the end of the day. Results, initially scheduled to be announced at 9 a.m., will now be released at 7 p.m., the Palestinian Central Election Commission said. It gave no reason for the delay.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PALESTINIANS_ELECTION?SITE=ASIAONE&SECTION=TOP_STORIES&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Latest from middle east is likely to send shivers down the spines and possibly more confrontational face-offs with the interim Israeli government. If anything is to be expected, Hamas is likely to follow up on their plan to have a sizable force in parliament and leave dealings with Israel to Mammoud Abbas. -
What which already looks bad could be made worse by Ariel Sharon's illness. Benjamin Netanyahu might profit from the current situation.
-
So we have a worst terrorists regime among the Palestinians.
-
With a right wing Netanyahu govt back in a power staring down a Hamas led Palestinian govt, the shit has hit the fan.
and look at what is on the advert on this thread..
-
Final results had Fatah with a paltry 43 seats and Hamas with a 76 majority.
Is there any hope at all in the middle east now that a TERRORIST Organisation rules a legitimate state? -
I fear Israel will just harden its stance and refuse to recongise the new govtOriginally posted by BillyBong:Final results had Fatah with a paltry 43 seats and Hamas with a 76 majority.
Is there any hope at all in the middle east now that a TERRORIST Organisation rules a legitimate state?
I fear Palestine might end up isolated by the world -
The Palestinians will only have themselves to blame. Why elect a terrorist organisation for govt?
-
They are finding the peace process slowOriginally posted by Salman:The Palestinians will only have themselves to blame. Why elect a terrorist organisation for govt? -
With terrorism, there will be no peace man. I think they should stop all terrorists attacks first, otherwise any talks will be meaningless.
-
they deserve each other...when there were opportunities for meaningful peace they played hard ass. but this may turn out positive hopefully.
hamas will realise being a loosely structured organisation and running a government are two very different beasts. either they will fail or have to take the diplomatic route to ensure survivial.
the americans just never learned, these middle easterners have tribal mentality and western democracy is not wholly suitable. if the cia didn't screw with the shah, iran would still remained open, liberal and pro-us. urging democracy in saudi arabia is a no-no....having a friend who's a despot is better than a pyschotic moralist as an enemy.. -
Because Hamas builds schools, hospitals and provide welfare to the palestinians. Something the previous government could not/would not do.Originally posted by Salman:The Palestinians will only have themselves to blame. Why elect a terrorist organisation for govt?
Because Hamas has bite and can do terrible things to people the palestinian people do not like. Again, something that the previous govt could not/would not do.
Because Hamas is not a lame duck that is pushed around by the israelies. Again, in contrast with the precious government.
What is interesting is that the rise of hamas has been noted years ago. I remember reading an article in Time magazine circa 2001/2 where the good Hamas is doing to the palestinians was noted.
Wonder how the US will proceed now. Last I heard they wanted Hamas to change is policy drastically - The same policy on the back of which they were elected to power! Silly yanks. IT seems the yanks have not yet learnt the lesson the rest of the world were taught in the last US election: that a democracy does not always vote the way you want them to.
I suspect that eventually, they will have an eureka moment and decide that the solution lies in something that has 4 letters, weights 2000lbs, starts with a 'J' and ends with an 'M'. Afterwhich of course there will be much champagne popping and circle jerking as they congragulate themselves for exporting democracy to the middle east.
Typical. -
countdracula:
"---they deserve each other---meaningful peace they played hard ass. but this may turn out positive hopefully.---"
i agree with some of your views. Hamas may surprise us all with moving towards Peace but will US and Israel allow them to?. -
Whoa...an indignant and typically defiant reply from HAMAS:
Jan 28, 9:22 PM EST
Hamas Considers Using Militants in Army
By SARAH EL DEEB and RAVI NESSMAN
Associated Press Writers
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The leader of Hamas suggested Saturday that the Islamic group could create a Palestinian army that would include its militant wing - responsible for scores of deadly attacks on Israelis - in the aftermath of its crushing victory in parliamentary elections.
Israeli officials condemned the plan, demanding that Hamas renounce violence. Palestinian security officers, including loyalists from the defeated Fatah Party, said they would never submit to Hamas control.
"Hamas has no power to meddle with the security forces," said Jibril Rajoub, a Palestinian strongman.
The Hamas chief, Khaled Mashaal, reiterated that Hamas would not recognize Israel. He also indicated attacks on Israeli civilians would continue, accusing Israel of targeting Palestinian civilians. "As long as we are under occupation then resistance is our right," he said.
Angry police stormed the parliament building in Gaza and armed militants marched into Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' compound in Ramallah to demonstrate their rejection of Hamas' authority. Their defiance raised fears of a spike in violence between Palestinian factions.
Clashes have already broken out between the two sides. Hamas gunmen wounded two policemen in Gaza early Saturday in what authorities said was a roadside ambush. The attack came hours after another firefight wounded a Hamas activist and two police officers, one of whom was in a coma Saturday.
Hamas won 74 out of 132 seats in parliamentary elections Wednesday to Fatah's 45. The militant group's victory threw the fate of international aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority in doubt and darkened the chances for a peace deal with Israel.
Speaking from his base in Damascus, Syria, Mashaal insisted his group would not disarm and said Hamas' military wing, estimated at nearly 5,000 gunmen in Gaza alone, could be merged into a Palestinian army.
Internal Palestinian tensions are spilling over after the Hamas election win.
"We are ready to unify the weapons of Palestinian factions, with Palestinian consensus, and form an army like any independent state," he said.
Israeli officials demanded that Hamas look for peaceful solutions to the conflict.
"If Hamas wants to be considered a partner in peace, it's very clear what it has to do. It has to renounce terrorism, disarm, accept Israel's right to exist and support political solutions to issues rather than pursuing violent jihad," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Mashaal also said Hamas would abide by existing agreements with the country "as long as it is in the interest of our people."
Israel and the Palestinians have a host of agreements dealing with everything from administration to peace frameworks. Mashaal did not say which agreements he was referring to.
Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they would not deal with Hamas, and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel would not rule out targeted killings against Hamas leaders if they attack Israel. Israeli airstrikes in 2004 killed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his successor Abdel Aziz Rantisi.
"Whoever stands at the head of a terror organization and continues to carry out terror attacks against Israel is not immune," Mofaz told Israel's Channel 2 television.
Mahmoud Zahar, an incoming Hamas parliamentarian and one of the group's top leaders in Gaza, told "CBS Evening News" that Hamas would be satisfied only if Israel withdrew from the land it has occpied since 1967, including Jerusalem.
"Why not withdraw from West Bank and Jerusalem and to release our detainees and after that - after that everybody will look at how to continue the process," he said.
Hamas' victory shocked Fatah, which dominated Palestinian politics for four decades. Abbas ordered an investigation into why his party lost so badly.
Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian uprising leader who was Fatah's top candidate and led efforts to reform the party, appealed for Fatah to hold a general conference to elect fresh leadership, according to a statement released by his wife, Fadwa.
He also congratulated Hamas and said Fatah would peacefully transfer power.
"We will respect the democratic process and its results and help those who won the confidence of our people," he said.
But many in the 58,000-member security force were less conciliatory and rejected any Hamas control.
"The security institution is a red line. We will not allow anyone to tamper with it," Gaza police chief Ala Hosni said. "It will remain a powerful and impartial arm that carries out the decisions of the presidency (Abbas) and that stops any infighting or civil war."
Dozens of armed police officers briefly stormed the parliament building in Gaza City, demanding the security forces remain in Fatah's hands and calling for Hamas members who killed police in fighting in recent months to be brought to justice.
In Ramallah, hundreds of Fatah activists, including gunmen and security officers, marched into Abbas' compound and prayed at the grave of Yasser Arafat.
"We came to you Abu Amar to forgive us for what happened," they chanted, referring to Arafat by his nickname.
Abbas' security force prevented the activists from approaching his office. Militants outside the walled compound shot in the air.
"We'll show them hell as an opposition, and we will turn the Palestinian Authority security forces into armed militia led by Al Aqsa," Ramzi Obeidi, a leader of the Fatah-allied Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, told the crowd.
Other Fatah activists staged angry protests throughout the West Bank, including in Nablus.
"We are now no longer part of the cease-fire," an Al Aqsa gunman, Nasser Haras, told the crowd, referring to a year-old truce with Israel.
In Tulkarem, gunman Ibrahim Khreisheh warned against cooperating with Hamas. "Whoever will participate in a government with Hamas, we will shoot him in the head," he said.
Abbas has said he would ask Hamas to form the next government and Hamas officials said they wanted to meet him Sunday. Hamas, with no experience in government, reached out to Fatah to form a coalition, but Fatah officials said they preferred to be in opposition.
Outlining his group's plan for the future, Mashaal said it would work to reform the corruption-riddled Palestinian Authority and continue its resistance to Israel.
In a move likely to anger Israel, Mashaal said Hamas would release Ahmed Saadat, leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He is being held at a Palestinian jail under Western supervision for ordering the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001.
President Bush told "CBS Evening News" on Friday that the United States would cut aid to the Palestinian government unless Hamas, which the U.S. lists as a terror group, abolishes its militant wing and stops calling for Israel's destruction.
Speaking at the World Forum in Davos, Switzerland, former President Clinton suggested Saturday that the West should be more open to eventual talks with Hamas.
"You've got to find a way to at least open doors ... and I don't see how we can do it without more contact," he said. Hamas might "acquire a greater sense of responsibility, and as they do, we have to be willing to act on that." -
The State of Israel was born out of Zionist Political Violence during the 1940s in which Zionist Terrorism was a common feature in its fight against British Colonial Rulers, UN Officials, and the Arabs residents of the land known as the British Palestine Mandate.
Assassination and kidnappings of the British Colonial Officers were common occurence during those early days and were carried out by three famous Jewish Nationalist Underground Groups - the Haganah, Irgun and Lehi - known as the Stern Gang.
Is there any difference with the similar strategy of the Palestinian Arabs usage of terrorism to claim what was forcibly taken from them on-behalf of the Jewish people ?
Hamas being elected to office maybe their undoing, as any further military terrorist actions taken by their group against Israel, will give Israel the legitmate right to declare open war against a legitimately elected government.
Hamas is forced to goven in the open, and may have to rethink their role in exercising the mandate that they have been given by the Palestinian People. -
There was an interesting debate regarding the Palestinian election among members of the Model United Nations society at my college.
1. Everyone agreed that the Palestinian People has the right to self-determinination.
2. Foreign aid to Palestine should be continued regardless if the government is/was a terrorist organisation.
3. Hamas should drop the total annihilation of Israel from its founding Charter.
4. The paramilitary wing of Hamas should be dissolved, to show the committment of the new government to the peace process in Middle East.
5. Israel should recognise the new Hamas government.
6. Israel should comply with the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. -
The 2-state solution and the current political stalemate is the result of the British two-timing both the Jews and Palestines in the 1940s.Originally posted by Atobe:The State of Israel was born out of Zionist Political Violence during the 1940s in which Zionist Terrorism was a common feature in its fight against British Colonial Rulers, UN Officials, and the Arabs residents of the land known as the British Palestine Mandate.
Hamas deserves the electoral victory. It is definitely undemocratic of the United States to not recognise that Hamas won the election.Originally posted by lwflee:Because Hamas builds schools, hospitals and provide welfare to the palestinians. Something the previous government could not/would not do.
The US and the UK intends to use foreign aid as a bargaining chip to handle the new Hamas government. In fact, the current official stand of the EU is to stop european foreign aid into Palestine. To punish the new government, the ordinary people of Palestine must suffer. So much for the moral "high" ground depicted by the United States since the beginning of the "War Against Terror".Originally posted by lwflee:Wonder how the US will proceed now. Last I heard they wanted Hamas to change is policy drastically - The same policy on the back of which they were elected to power! Silly yanks. IT seems the yanks have not yet learnt the lesson the rest of the world were taught in the last US election: that a democracy does not always vote the way you want them to.
Given Hamas engagement in the democratic process and its committment to the ceasefire agreement with Israel, the new government should be greeted with good faith by the international community. Would this not be a good opportunity for the organisation Hamas to step back from violent terrorism and engage in regional diplomacy and domestic politics. Perhaps, the Palestinians can finally take a breath of relief from their daily dose of insecurity and work towards a sustainable future.. -
Israel made several moves towards peace, but the Palestinians never allowed them.Originally posted by claudetnt:countdracula:
i agree with some of your views. Hamas may surprise us all with moving towards Peace but will US and Israel allow them to?.
Hamas always wanted the annihilation of Israel, can they change their charter and cease to exist as Hamas? -
I fully agree with that statement.........Originally posted by countdracula:....having a friend who's a despot is better than a pyschotic moralist as an enemy.. -
Nothing in this world is for sure.Originally posted by Salman:Hamas always wanted the annihilation of Israel, can they change their charter and cease to exist as Hamas?