By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Aug 24, 2005
The Hamas terrorist organization is being allowed to run in upcoming ?Palestinian? elections in violation of the PLO's signed peace agreements with Israel.
Jerusalem, Washington and the rest of the West are doing nothing about it.
PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas has set January 21, 2006 as the election date.
Israel's Interim Agreement with the Palestinian Authority (or ?Oslo II?) forbids the ?nomination of any candidates, parties or coalitions? that ?commit or advocate racism? or ?pursue the implementation of their aims by unlawful or non-democratic means.? (Annex II, Article II)
But Abbas has taken his disregard for the PA's commitments even further, inviting Hamas to join a unity government should it fail to win more Palestinian Legislative Council seats than his own Fatah faction.
The response from Jerusalem and Washington can be best described as passive displeasure.
In a joint press conference with Abbas in May, US President George W. Bush said he had no problem with Hamas terrorists participating in elections because he was sure ?the people that campaign for peace will win.?
?I don't think they're going to get elected, because I think Palestinian moms want their children to grow up in peace just like American moms want their children to grow up in peace,? said Bush, apparently choosing to disregard the regular public expressions of pride by Palestinian Arab women whose sons blow up Israeli Jews.
While the Sharon government has rejected the notion of a Hamas electoral bid, it has not made the issue a sticking point for further progress in the peace process.
In July of this year, Ha'aretz prodded the government on the issue, and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom promised to demand the PA disqualify Hamas from running.
Hamas' participation in internationally-backed elections would lend a degree of legitimacy to the terror group that would be nearly impossible to erase, Israeli legal experts have warned.