Landslide Victory for Hamas
Hamas celebrates (AFP photo via L'Orient-Le Jour)
The lack of either leadership or statesmanship from the Bush Admininstration in this hour of setback is embarrasing. Other nations, perhaps not as free or wealthy as the United States, are lucky enough have one or both.
Hamid Karzai: "If the Palestinian people have expressed their will in electing Hamas, then we must give Hamas a chance."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: "Russia will respect, as always, the democratic choice of the Palestinian people. It is important to us that all those who participated in the Palestinian democratic process remain faithful to peaceful national aspirations of the Palestinian people."
Pervez Musharraf: "We shall leave the door open, including to Hamas. I don't believe we should shut the door on relations. I think we should base our actions in reality. If Hamas has won, then we cannot go into denial."
Amos Luzzatto, Chief Rabbi of the Italian Jewish Community: "Let us hope that the victory pushes Hamas in a different direction from that which it has followed in the past. Hamas has won and everyone must respect the verdit of the ballot box."
And last, the Muslim Brotherhood. "The victory at the polls by Hamas shows the desire of the Arab nation to turn towards Islam." [At least the statement doesn't make me want to strangle them].
Well, what did Washington expect? Look at this year of headlines. What kind of people in their right mind were going to vote for Fatah?
25 January 2006: The Palestinian Authority is bankrupt.
6 January 2006. Rivalry among Fatah factions causes the Palestinian Authority to disintegrate.
22 December 2005: The Road Map is hopelessly mired down.
11 November 2005: After Arafat, Year One. Mission impossible.
30 September 2005: Hamas earned its popularity during the Second Intifada while Fatah was discredited by ineffectiveness and corruption.
16 September 2005: George Bush and Ariel Sharon agree to freeze the Road Map after the evacuation from Gaza [That's the best reason to vote Hamas right there--Nur]
8 September 2005: Mussa Arafat, former Security Chief, assassinated.
29 August 2005: 8500 settlers abandon the Gaza Strip; 12,000 illegally settle on the West Bank.
06 May 2005: Washington’s insistence on disarming Hamas actually serves the cause of the militants. Meanwhile, Fatah’s bad image will cost them most of their seats in the legislative elections.
But the worst of demagoguery and fear-mongering was a claim by Israeli Ambassador Dore Gold, President of The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: Hamas will now link up with al-Qaeda.
posted by Nur-al-Cubicle | 7:08 PM
12 Comments:
Well Nur, looks like you have a lot of important people quoted, but you left me out. Actually, nobody asked, and I think I'll just pass anyhow, deferring instead to go along with whatever a gentleman by the name of Ahmadinejad might have to say.
Hamas has already linked up with al Qaeda.
The pals have shown their true face - terrorist murderers intent on Israel's destruction and the genocide of the Jews. Now we can stop pretending that the pals actually want peace.
Nudnik, there is no al Qaeda. Now get back to your computer games.
Didn't Hamas run on a social platform - i.e. issues that affect families. This aspect has been PRACTICALLY IGNORED by the US press - drama sells more copy!
Didn't Hamas run on a social platform - i.e. issues that affect families.
Yeah, so did Hitler.
Hamas is a terrorist group. That is not drama, it is fact.
ROFLOL Grania as I'm sure you've noticed by now Likudnunik ignores facts at the drop of a hat so that he/she/it can engage both in self-pity and genocidal fantasising and repeatedly drops the hat all by him/her/itself.
You're right Hamas - did indeed run on a social ticket - and as part of the ikhwani stream of Islamism is an avowed enemy of al-Qaeda.
But hey if you're Nuddynikins why let that get in the way of good whinge.
Yes Mark - I've noticed - the Hamas hysteria is getting to me today!
Nudie was glaringly absent when I wrote about Sharon the hit squad lieutenant specializing in ambushing Bedouin tribesmen. And the Kibya massacre.
No! Yah don't say! Nuddy making him/her/it/self scarce whenever facts raise their ugly head? Who'd a thunked it!
I wonder what would happen if one of us pointed out to him/her/it that going all the way back to 1978 when Ahmad Yassin 's Mujama‘ started to get funding from the Israeli government - that was Prime Minister Menachem Begin (who wasn't exactly inexperienced or shy about blowing people up when it suited him.) Sharon played a key role in shaping this policy. Then in March 2004 Yassin was assasinated by the Likud dominated Israeli government which had two effects. First of all it created a groundswell of sympathy for Hamas and secondly it created an opennig for a new leadership that has brought them to where they are today.
Must really suck to be Nuddy every time somebody actually lives out one of his/her/its murderous little fantasies it results in blowback.
Ironically, Hamas types and other Wahhâbi-style Arab fundamentalists are preaching for a born-again Hebrew worldview: in many ways, Palestinians Islamic fundamentalists are much more “Jewish” or Bible-based than your average secular Israeli citizen.
If it existed today the Grand Sanhedrim would probably side with the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution: same beards, same turbans, same misogynic mania, same neurotic obsession with “God’s Law” and other Pentateuch-based fanatical follies…
It’s no coincidence Sicari-in-Chief Simon Bin Giora was born in Jordan, just like Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi!
Dr Victor de la Vega
Thomas More Center for Middle-East Studies
http://www.mideastmemo.blogspot.com/
You're right Hamas - did indeed run on a social ticket - and as part of the ikhwani stream of Islamism is an avowed enemy of al-Qaeda.
Are you kidding? Hamas and al Qaeda are both directly descended from the Mislin Brotherhood in Egypt. Both are Sunni. And both share the same ideology.
Regardless of those facts, even if they were supposed ideological "enemies", which they are not, it wouldn;t matter. Competing ideologies have numerous times throughout history collaborated- Hitler and Stalin, Shiite Iran supporting Suuni al Qaeda, Shite Iran and Suuni Syrian Baathists aliging, Shiite Iran supporting Suuni Hamas, to name just a few.
As to that Sharon article, there was very little interesting there to comment about. Yes, Sharon as a young lieutenant was part of a commando group whose goal was to raise the price of Arab attacks on Israel. So what. He was also Israel's greateest field general, and in many ways on par with Patton as a tank commander. A brilliant man, who the terrorists of the palestinians couldn't even come close to in talent and ingenuity.
Are you kidding? Hamas and al Qaeda are both directly descended from the Mislin Brotherhood in Egypt. Both are Sunni. And both share the same ideology.
By this argument, the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda should be great pals, instead of every memeber of the MB scowling ferociously whenever anyone mentions Ayman al-Zawahiri's name.
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