Hamas says it might participate in Palestinian voting
Posted on 05/19/2002 12:24:20 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Hamas says it might participate in Palestinian voting
Militant group vows to continue attacks against Israeli civilians
05/19/2002
JERUSALEM - The militant Islamic group Hamas left open the door Saturday to its participation in planned Palestinian elections, a move that would present a formidable challenge to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
The extremist group, which is second in popularity among Palestinians only to Mr. Arafat's movement, also vowed Saturday to continue suicide attacks against Israeli civilians.
It said it would not stop until Israeli soldiers halted attacks against Palestinian civilians.
In the West Bank on Saturday, Israeli soldiers opened fire on a car that tried to run a roadblock, the army said. One Arab passenger was killed when the car flipped over.
Four Palestinians were killed Friday, including two who tried to infiltrate into Jewish settlements to carry out attacks.
Meanwhile, 15 Palestinian Cabinet ministers offered to resign Saturday, officials said, a gesture to spur reforms in the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mr. Arafat.
The Cabinet ministers signed a letter offering to present their resignations, the Palestinian officials said, but none had actually resigned, and the letter was not presented to Mr. Arafat.
Reforms listed
On Thursday, the Palestinian Parliament put together a list of reform demands, including disbanding the Cabinet and calling elections for president and parliament.
Minister Hassan Asfour said the ministers would resign if Mr. Arafat thought that would spur reforms. "We will follow President Arafat's decision," he said.
Mr. Arafat, whose popularity is at a low point, has promised to hold general elections but later linked the balloting to an Israeli withdrawal from positions in the Palestinian territories.
His aides said the Israelis must first dismantle dozens of roadblocks that make travel inside the West Bank extremely difficult. They also said that Israeli soldiers would have to be pulled back from positions that ring Palestinian cities.
The elections are expected within six months if the Palestinian conditions are met, they said.
Seen as corrupt
The United States, Europe and Israel have been pressing Mr. Arafat to hold elections and reform his administration, which is widely regarded as corrupt.
Israel has said that it will not pull back its soldiers until Mr. Arafat's security forces arrest militants and has said that Mr. Arafat's conditions are a ploy to avoid elections.
"We're there because he's not doing his job," said Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Hamas, which boycotted the last elections in 1996, has indicated that it would consider fielding candidates in upcoming elections as long as the balloting has nothing to do with the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hamas does not recognize the peace agreement and calls for the destruction of Israel. The United States considers the group to be a terrorist organization.
"We do not recognize any elections that came as a result of the Oslo agreement and if the coming elections will be the same as the past we will consider it an obstacle for the participation of Hamas and other parties," Ismail Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas leader, said Saturday.
Mr. Arafat has not said that upcoming elections would have anything to do with the Oslo process, but it's not clear if he would agree to Hamas participation. Palestinian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Mr. Abu Shanab said that Hamas also would consider fielding candidates in local elections, which would be held at the same time as the general elections.
"We have to wait until elections will be declared officially and then we will make a decision," he said when asked about the municipal elections.
The election of members of Hamas or other militant groups to the Palestinian parliament would be a massive setback to the already faltering peace process.
"These are organizations that have stated very clearly that they want the destruction of Israel," Mr. Gissin said.
"Would you imagine that a terrorist group would run for election in the United States or any other democracy?" Mr. Gissin asked. "Who are you going to negotiate with then?"
Hamas, which provides a social welfare network in the Palestinian territories, is admired by many Palestinians for carrying out suicide attacks against Israelis and is the strongest opposition to Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement.
One other challenger
So far, Mr. Arafat's only challenger is Abdel Sattar Qassem, a Palestinian political scientist who says he will run on an anti-corruption platform but who has no local base of support.
Hamas claimed responsibility for a March 27 suicide bombing that killed 29 Israelis during a Passover Seder, an attack which led Israel to mount its largest military offensive in the West Bank in decades.
Mr. Abu Shanab said that Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide attacks since fighting began in September 2000, would continue the attacks as long as Israeli soldiers or settlers are on occupied territory.
"We were forced to commit martyrdom operations by the occupation, but if the occupation stops its attacks against civilians, our resistance will be limited to settlers, soldiers and their tanks," Mr. Abu Shanab said.
Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks in the occupied territories would interfere with the freedom of movement necessary to campaign, vote, and hold free elections.
Mr. Arafat will do whatever he can to remain in power. Right now he's changing the rules to delay elections. Exile is his only chance to even survive, he just doesn't know it yet.
The IDF will advance further into the West Bank and take part of the Gaza Strip if the Palis continue their attacks. The Israelis really don't have a choice to do anything else IMHO.
I have a hard time understanding why elections would be linked to such Israeli behavior as checkpoint removal or territorial withdrawal.
And you replied:
Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks in the occupied territories would interfere with the freedom of movement necessary to campaign, vote, and hold free elections.
Oh, I see. Its just a simple logistical problem for Mr. Arafat keeping him from operating more democratically. Thanks for clearing that up.
/sarcasm>
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