The Elections in Palestine

"...I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you can't be a partner in peace if you have a -- if your party has got an armed wing. The elections just took place. We will watch very carefully about the formation of the government. But I will continue to remind people about what I just said, that if your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you're not a partner in peace. ....."

-President Bush - January 26,2006

The results of the Palestinian elections, where the Hamas Party scored a landslide victory, assures that the Middle East Peace Process will be forever altered. One has to wonder if the effect on the peace process means a turn for the worst or for the better? It's hard to sing praises for Hamas, and I am not going to do it here. Hamas is a violent terrorist group, plain and simple. Until they publicly change their platform calling for the destruction of Israel we should have nothing to do with them. I think we need to keep in mind that for all the efforts of endless peace conferences, negotiations and economic persausion, nothing might be more effective in changing Hamas' behavior than to have to carry the mantel of responsibility to bring a better life to the Palestinian people.

Are we to believe that 75% of the Palestinian electorate believes that the destruction of Israel is the most pressing issue in their lives? I think not. In 30 years the Palestine refugee issue has not gotten much better, they remain a very poor people. President Bush made this point when he stated, "When you give people the vote, you give people a chance to express themselves at the polls -- and if they're unhappy with the status quo, they'll let you know."

Even cities like Jenin and al-Birch, urban areas where some economic development has occurred, gave victories to Hamas representatives. Khalid Amayreh explained in the Palestine Times,”The people here have been fed up with rampant chaos and lawlessness, as well as the PA’s failure to fight numerous aspects of corruption like graft, nepotism, favoritism, cronyism and above all the manifestly serious abuse of governance."

For decades the Palestinians have been victimized, not by Israel, but by the self appointed body of the PLO, lead by Yassar Arafat and his cronies. The PLO leadership talked of wanting peace, talked of wanting a Palestine homeland and was rewarded with billions of dollars in economic aid. Arafat realized the more he talked the richer he and his friends could be. There was no incentive for Arafat to actual solved the problems facing his people, these problems were making him and his friends rich. While I am not happy with Hamas taking over the Palestine Authority, I am glad that a change occurred.

I can't begin to predict how Hamas is going to react with this new found power, but I didn't have any faith in the old guard to act on behalf of the Palestinians either. If you believe that the majority of Palestinian people want a better life and not war with Israel, you can only hope that Hamas realizes that the only true way to retain power in the next election is to change the status quo.