Palestinian Elections Posted by Lorelei Kelly

Here's an email I received from a friend of mine regarding the Hamas success in the Palestinian elections.  He is an international legal consultant--who is working in several Middle Eastern countries. The short of it: Hamas will have to moderate to survive:

Yes, it's not a surprise to me that Hamas did so well.  It's only natural that given a choice, people will turn against corrupt, repressive, entrenched regimes that have failed to deliver on their promises. You'd have a similar result in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood if they were allowed to mount a serious campaign.  (Maybe the current US leadership will feel a similar backlash)

As for what will happen, only time will tell.  I would guess that Hamas is in a bit of shock right now.  They would probably feel much more comfortable as the outside opposition party than as the ruling party that's expected to deal with the US and Israel as the voice of the Palestinian people.  Since they're not really qualified to do that (and don't want to be seen as cooperating with the US and Israel), they'll probably reach out to Fatah and give them some role in the Government. They are totally unprepared to govern at that level and if they try, they'll probably fail.  On the other hand, I'm sure there are lots of Palestinians who will be thrilled with the prospect of change and will be willing to stick with Hamas for a while despite some setbacks.  And of course there's the big question regarding who will fill Sharon's shoes on the other side of the "separation barrier." 

Most Palestinians, like most Israelis, want peace.  Let's hope democracy works in the sense that eventually it will result in the expression and implementation of the will of the people.

Comments

[Jay.Mac]

Hamas will moderate?

Their first job seems to be implementing sharia law. Given that democracy is considered to be apostasy then this could be the last election this part of the world sees for some time.

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Following their resounding election victory, the Islamic militants of Hamas met the question of whether they will change their stripes with a loud "no": no recognition of
Israel, no negotiations, no renunciation of terror.

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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.

And this is the sort of person elected into office-
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Miriam Farahat has lost three sons to suicide bombings against Israel; yesterday, she was elected to the Palestinian Parliament.
So, what has she promised to do for her constituents? Housing? Jobs? Education? Clinics?
Nope -- she's promised to get the rest of her kids to blow themselves up as well.

Hoping that Hamas will become moderate is nothing more than a pipe dream. Did the Taliban become more moderate when they were in power in Afghanistan?