Friday, January 27, 2006

P is for Palestine I for Israel and boom is the sound of a nuke

I don't normally post about news stories but our world is changing and the recent election in Palestine, which has given the Hamas a majority 76 seats to Fatah's 43 in a 132 member legislature frightens me.

Watch How the Hamas' victory affects Americans
2:50

According to Wikipedia: Hamas, acronym of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Arabic: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, literally "Islamic Resistance Movement" and Arabic for 'zeal'), is a Palestinian Islamist movement and political party.

The Hamas are viewed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and other European powers and are bent on the total annihilation of Israel.

An incoming Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, had this to say about Israel, “Why we are going to recognize Israel? Why? Is Israel ready to recognize the right of return for Palestinian people? Is Israel ready to recognize an independent (Palestinian) state, including Jerusalem? We (will) not recognize anybody on the expense of our national interest.”

What does the Hamas's victory in Palestine's parliamentary elections mean for the world in general? My opinion is that a Palestine under Hamas rule puts an end to the already hopeless road map for peace, this election will perpetuate the conflict, and reshape it from an Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a greater Jewish-Arab one, and I think it could be argued of a Western-Muslim one. Such a conflict, backed by the jihad movement and Iran, has neither a solution nor an end.

Iran congratulated Hamas for its election victory and praised voters for choosing “to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation.”

The United States has already taken precedence in attacking nations harboring terrorists. Tensions exist between us and Iran and much of the Middle East. With the United States trying to spread democracy in the Middle East, our nation has to respect the Hamas victory in Palestine or risk losing all progress in the promotion of democratic policies. Since our nation is already heavily involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestine we're going to be thrust into another a very stressful time. Whatever our nation does is going to be viewed or construed by others as the Americans trying to impose their beliefs and ideals on people that don't share those values.

Sources from which I read:
A Hamas leader says the group has no plans to recognize Israel
Hamas win sets precedent for Arab democracy
Iran Cooler on Russian nuclear proposal
Thousands of Fatah Members Protest in Gaza
Furious protesters demand Abbas quit
Video: The impact of Hamas

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For me Hamas winning the election is not as bad as people think because if Hamas philosophy changes which I think will happen with political contact with western worlds then the large majority of Palestinians will move as one.

In Fiji we used to have radical parties come in from coupus but once they met other people outside their circles their views started to moderate. The added pressure in this situation is that they need money from the other people.