Polls predict that the Hamas group will do very well against the ruling Fatah party in the upcoming Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections, winning up to a third of the seats. Hamas continues to gain strength in the wake of increased unrest throughout the Palestinian Authority under current Fatah leadership.
This weekend, while visiting families of Arabs imprisoned in Israel, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar announced for the first time his group’s intention to take part in a legislative government. "Yes. We are running for the Legislative Council to put an end to the vestiges of Oslo," said Zahar.
The militant group Hamas, which openly calls for Israel's destruction and has dispatched numerous terrorists to murder hundreds of Israelis, was formed following the 1987 intifada. Hamas views as its mission securing the complete Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and the ultimate establishment of an Islamic state in place of Israel.
According to the Hamas website, Islamic Resistance Movement leader Sheikh Ismail Haneyya asserted that Hamas intends to take part in a new Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) government. "Hamas aspires to form a political national coalition grouping all winning camps in the elections," Haneyya said, "in order to shoulder the national duties, to rearrange the disarrayed Palestinian internal home, and to create a strong PLC able to supervise and bring to account all erred officials in order to realize separation of powers in the government."
At an election rally in Khan Yunis, in Gaza, Haneyya maintained that the Hamas would not enter into a diplomatic relationship with Israel. "We won't negotiate with the Israeli occupation except through rifle muzzles,” he said, adding, "Hamas confounded the enemies and rivals when it engaged in resisting the Israeli occupation and proved its merit in teaching the Israeli enemy many lessons. And today, the Movement is perplexing the enemies anew through its participation in the parliamentary elections without relinquishing its constants."
Haneyya claimed that Israel was growing weaker and that the “Palestinian resistance would win victory over the Israeli occupation.”
Haneyya said he intended to create a new political climate in the Middle East, not to be influenced by the "Zionist enemy" or to be dominated by American political pressures. "Europeans became familiar with Palestinian and Arab compromises and imposition of the American political will in the region, but, we will follow a new philosophy and practical ways that preserve our national constants without any concession," Haneyya stated.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been under pressure from his Fatah party to postpone the upcoming elections, slated for January 25. Abbas has stated that he would be justified in postponing the elections, because an Israeli decision to bar Arabs from the Jerusalem sector to vote would taint the election results. Israel has not said it would prevent Jerusalem Arabs from voting.
Hamas' Zahar did not think that Abbas would postpone the elections without his group’s consent. "President Abbas will lose his credibility if he postpones the elections," stated Zahar. "Anyone who blocks the elections will lose. The elections will take place."
Haneyya agreed with Zahar, telling a large Arab audience, "The brothers in Fatah had proposed to postpone the election for different reasons, but we have told them that postponing the election will lead to a vacuum and to a dark future. Postponing the election is not the solution. We urged them to go ahead with the election."
Haneyya and Zahar have both indicated that Hamas plans to abduct Israeli soldiers and use them as bargaining chips in exchange for the release of over 8,000 Arabs currently imprisoned in Israeli jails. Israel has called for the disqualification of the radical terrorist group from the upcoming elections.
This weekend, while visiting families of Arabs imprisoned in Israel, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar announced for the first time his group’s intention to take part in a legislative government. "Yes. We are running for the Legislative Council to put an end to the vestiges of Oslo," said Zahar.
The militant group Hamas, which openly calls for Israel's destruction and has dispatched numerous terrorists to murder hundreds of Israelis, was formed following the 1987 intifada. Hamas views as its mission securing the complete Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and the ultimate establishment of an Islamic state in place of Israel.
According to the Hamas website, Islamic Resistance Movement leader Sheikh Ismail Haneyya asserted that Hamas intends to take part in a new Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) government. "Hamas aspires to form a political national coalition grouping all winning camps in the elections," Haneyya said, "in order to shoulder the national duties, to rearrange the disarrayed Palestinian internal home, and to create a strong PLC able to supervise and bring to account all erred officials in order to realize separation of powers in the government."
At an election rally in Khan Yunis, in Gaza, Haneyya maintained that the Hamas would not enter into a diplomatic relationship with Israel. "We won't negotiate with the Israeli occupation except through rifle muzzles,” he said, adding, "Hamas confounded the enemies and rivals when it engaged in resisting the Israeli occupation and proved its merit in teaching the Israeli enemy many lessons. And today, the Movement is perplexing the enemies anew through its participation in the parliamentary elections without relinquishing its constants."
Haneyya claimed that Israel was growing weaker and that the “Palestinian resistance would win victory over the Israeli occupation.”
Haneyya said he intended to create a new political climate in the Middle East, not to be influenced by the "Zionist enemy" or to be dominated by American political pressures. "Europeans became familiar with Palestinian and Arab compromises and imposition of the American political will in the region, but, we will follow a new philosophy and practical ways that preserve our national constants without any concession," Haneyya stated.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been under pressure from his Fatah party to postpone the upcoming elections, slated for January 25. Abbas has stated that he would be justified in postponing the elections, because an Israeli decision to bar Arabs from the Jerusalem sector to vote would taint the election results. Israel has not said it would prevent Jerusalem Arabs from voting.
Hamas' Zahar did not think that Abbas would postpone the elections without his group’s consent. "President Abbas will lose his credibility if he postpones the elections," stated Zahar. "Anyone who blocks the elections will lose. The elections will take place."
Haneyya agreed with Zahar, telling a large Arab audience, "The brothers in Fatah had proposed to postpone the election for different reasons, but we have told them that postponing the election will lead to a vacuum and to a dark future. Postponing the election is not the solution. We urged them to go ahead with the election."
Haneyya and Zahar have both indicated that Hamas plans to abduct Israeli soldiers and use them as bargaining chips in exchange for the release of over 8,000 Arabs currently imprisoned in Israeli jails. Israel has called for the disqualification of the radical terrorist group from the upcoming elections.