| Hamas Now Represents the Palestinian People by Maurice Lavian January 2006 |
| On January 25 2006 the Palestinians lined up at election booths to elect the head of their government and their parliament. Turnout was high among Palestinians with around 78% of eligible Palestinians showing up at the polls. The two main political parties on the ballot were Fatah and Hamas. Fatah is the same party Yessir Arafat was from and is known for its corruption. Hamas is a terrorist organization that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian civilians. Hamas also seeks the destruction of Israel and opposes peacemaking. Initial exit polls showed Fatah in the lead, but the outcome of the election became clear the next day. Hamas gained 76 seats in the 132 seat parliament. This is over half. This means Abbas will find it difficult to carry out his reforms and make peace with Israel. This outcome also shows the mentality of the Palestinian people. I have always been one who has argued that the Palestinian people are decent and hospitable people and most of them do not approve of terrorism by extremist groups like Hamas. However, today the Palestinians proved me wrong. The Palestinians had a choice of who they wanted to represent them and they chose a terrorist group. I realize that many Palestinians were fed up with the corruption under Fatah. But lets remember the Palestinians had eight other choices on the ballot box besides Hamas and Fatah that they could have voted for. Not since Germany in 1930's have any peoples of the world willingly elected terrorists to represent them. The Palestinians receive more international aid per capita than any other peoples in the world. Many of these aid donors (including the U.S. and the E.U.) expressed shock at the victory of Hamas, and have hinted that they may reduce or eliminate aid to the Palestinians if Hamas does not disarm and recognize Israel. The Palestinians have regularly complained about Israeli military actions in the territories in response to terrorist attacks. They refer to these military actions as "collective punishment" and claim it is unfair. Until recently most of the international community has taken the Palestinians side and called on Israel not to perform these military operations in response to terror. Many pro-Palestinian supporters, such as Rachel Corrie, Alison Weir, and Ken Livingstone claim that the majority of Palestinians oppose terrorism and that extremist groups like Hamas only represent a small minority of the Palestinian population. These people can no longer make this argument since the Palestinian people have willingly and openly chosen a terrorist group to represent them. The Palestinian people can no longer claim they are innocent for the crimes of Hamas since a majority of Palestinians have put them into power. If the Palestinians wish to collectively benefit from the crimes of Hamas, they must also collectively accept responsibility for their crimes as well. Never again will I suggest to anyone that most Palestinians wants peace, since the Palestinians elected a group that opposes any kind of peace with Israel and wants it replaced with an Islamic state. The result of the Palestinian elections is likely to affect Israel's upcoming elections on March 28. Many Israelis will be in fear now that Hamas is in power and many of them will be willing to vote for right wing parties, such as Likud, who promise Israeli people security. With hardliners in both the Israeli and Palestinian governments, it is likely a deadlock will form and will prevent all hopes for peace in the near future. Palestinians will continue to live in refugee camps and under Israeli occupation and Israelis will continue to live in fear of Palestinian terrorism. Another potential of the election results is widespread condemnation of the Palestinian people in the international community. Already many world leaders have expressed concern over Hamas' victory. Many pro-Palestinian demonstrators will find it difficult to support a government run by an Islamic militant group. This also gives the world the impression that the Palestinians dont want peace. The world saw how in August 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza and since then the Palestinians have not made any reciprocal moves for peace. Hamas's victory is likely to further this impression in western countries. Up until now the Palestinian territories are known as one of the few places in the Arab/Islamic world in which women are not treated like dirt. Generally Palestinian women suffer from less discrimination then do woman in other Arab countries. Under Hamas' rule this is likely to change. Hamas is an Islamic fundamentalist group that wishes to impose an Islamic state in all of "Palestine". If the Palestinians adopt Islamic law women will be treated like second class citizens, just as they are in most Muslim countries. Hamas advocates for sharia law which requires women to wear a scarf (chador) covering their head at all times while they are in public. Women will be subject to their husband's rules. Under Hamas' vision of sharia law, a Muslim's blood is more valuable than a non-Muslims. If a non-Muslim were to murder a Muslim he would be killed instantly. But should a Muslim kill a non-Muslim he would only be subject to a small fine to compensate the family. This theocratical backwardness is common in most Arab/Muslim countries and has been relatively absent in Palestinian society up until now. If Palestinians are unhappy living under occupation, wait till they see how its like living under sharia law! In a democracy the people are responsible to choose a leader to represent them. Whoever they choose, they must remember that they are responsible for the actions of the leader they elected. If a nation or group of people elects a terrorist group who wishes to attack innocent civilians and reject peace with their neighbors, than those people are as guilty as their leaders. |
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