Fatah officials say Hamas won PA elections

Haaretz.com (Excerpt) ^ | January 26, 2006 | Amos Harel, Arnon Regular and Amira Hass

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

Officials in the ruling Fatah Party said Thursday that Hamas captured a majority of seats in Palestinian legislative elections, shortly after the militant group claimed victory.

The Fatah officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they expected Hamas to win 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.

[snip]

[montag813]

Oy Vey. Stupid exit polls over there were saying 58 seats for HAMAS and 63 for FATAH. This is bad.

No. This is great! A Hamas victory was the only way to prevent the next traitor-in-training Olmert from giving away the store.

[Graymatter]

Can't wait to hear what Dr. Rice has to say about this...

[peyton randolph]

A Hamas victory was the only way to prevent the next traitor-in-training Olmert from giving away the store.

Actually, Pat Robertson could pray that Olmert would have a stroke too.

[peyton randolph]

Can't wait to hear what Dr. Rice has to say about this

These boots were made for walking...

[John O]

This could be the best chance to make peace, or war. We will look like hypocrites if we refuse to negotiate with a 'democratically elected' government.

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance.
All we are saying, is give peace a chance"

I was struck by how your comments matched so well with your name. Made me laugh.

Negotiating with terrorists is always a bad idea. If they are fairly elected government that just moves the entire population firmly into the terrorist column. (Where the jordanian residents of the area sometimes called palestine really have belonged for years BTW)

If we negotiate with Hamas then we will look like hypocrites. A terrorist is a terrorist and deserves only to be destroyed. (Of course an islamist is by definition of their own scriptures a terrorist)

[Mom MD]

doesn't matter. God has the fortitude, and this was scripted long ago.

[Semper Paratus]

Sharon's fence is looking damn good right now.

[Gucho]

So how is the US State Dept. going to deal with them?



Caution!

[Alouette]

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[jla]

So if a Palestinian parliament delgation visits Washington DC, along with several Hamas members, will they be invited into the White House?

[SmoothTalker]

This has been my worry all along with democracy in the middle east. You can't trust islamists to vote for decent candidates.

[jpl]

In a strange way, I'm actually kind of glad Hamas won the election. It shows the majority of the so-called "Palestinians" for what they're really all about. They have absolutely no interest in peace or a state side by side with Israel, they never have, and now it's going to be all but impossible for the West to put forth the absurd fiction that they do.

[NavVet]

This may be good news. Now when the next rocket comes from Gaza and hit a target in Israel, the PA can't blame it on the uncontrollable Hamas. When the next attack does come, Israel will be justified in taking out the enemy command and control and now they'll know exactly where to find them.

[hellinahandcart]

if these people want to lie down with dogs

"These people" already were dogs.

I don't want to hear anything more about a peace process. This is going to be settled by a big fat bloody war now, and most of the dead are going to be Palestinian, and that is a GOOD thing.

Yes I mean it, and no I don't care if this post gets yanked.

[pganini]

Hey, I thought democracy was supposed to SOLVE EVERYTHING, eh?

Instead, what this election has given is LEGITIMACY to a terrorist group. They're democratically elected and it puts Bush in a really awkward position to deny their legitimacy now. But, this is what Bush doctrine calls for, democracy and freedom everywhere - becareful what you ask for.

The truth is, in the middleeast, if bin laden were on the ballot, he'd be elected in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, anywhere where there is a dictator or monarchy.

[pganini]

And the world will see TWO democracies at war with each other. I thought democratic countries never attack each other.

This is bad news for Bush doctrine.

[NavVet]

I think established democracies would be more accurate. The PA is far from being a soverign country at this point anyway. And we'll see just how democratic the PA remains after this election. Germany was a democracy when Hitler rose to power, but it ceased to be a democracy after Hitler got elected. I suspect that we will see the same thing in the with regard to HAMAS. But if Hamas does allow future elections I seriously doubt they would win the next one unless they radically change their approach to the conflict. (no pun intended)

With regard to your assertion that Bin Laden would be elected in Saudi Arabia, Jordan etc. I doubt it. In Jordan they have had mass protests against Zarqawi and in Iraq, where the candidates that were surrogates for Al-qaeda were soundly rejected.

[justiceseeker93]

The cartoon you posted exemplifies the old proverb: a picture is worth a thousand words.

[bill1952]

Instead, what this election has given is LEGITIMACY to a terrorist group

I tire of this claim.

President Bush has already addressed this very issue in his 1st term.

The Taliban, whether we like it or not, were the elected leaders of Afghanistan, as was Saddam Hussein.

Now all gone bye bye.

Elections do not confer legitimacy to a terrorist organization, be they Baathists, Taliban, or even Hamas.

[bill1952]

We can hope. :)