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Palestinian Arabs

Gaza public endorses Hamas violence


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
January 30, 2005

The Hamas terrorist organization’s overwhelming success in last week’s Gaza municipal elections proves there is widespread public support for its efforts to mass murder Israeli Jews, Hamas officials said.

"Our people have a consensus on the choice of jihad and resistance and the election has underscored that concept," said spokesman Muhir al-Masri following the announcement of the election results.

“This means that the people believe in the armed resistance as the only option,” Gaza-based Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told The Jerusalem Post .

Voter turnout topped 80 percent in Thursday’s poll, which gave Hamas 75 out of 118 local council seats in the Gaza Strip.

Even in Bet Hanoun – where, Israeli officials and media assert, the local population is fed up with Hamas rocket attacks launched from their town on nearby Sderot – the terror group won 11 out of 13 council seats.

The victory is expected to provide Hamas with far greater leverage in its negotiations with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas over a power-sharing government. It will also, in “Palestinian” eyes, enable Hamas to legitimately nix any “ceasefire” with Israel.

A senior US official admitted the election results were a cause for concern.

"It is always worrying when people linked to violent faction achieve success," he told reporters.

The Bush Administration, he said, would keep a close eye on whether or not Hamas’s victory affects the official policies of the Abbas regime.

Washington and the West have long maintained “Palestinian” terrorism was a fringe phenomenon unsupported by the general public, which only wanted to live in peace with its Jewish neighbors.

Thursday’s election results would suggest otherwise.

Following the Islamic terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush told the citizens of the world they were either with the terrorists or against them.

Gaza’s Arabs appear to have made their choice.

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