Hamas-Fatah truce?
Published Tue, Dec 19 2006 4:11 PM
Technorati Tags: Elections, Middle East, Israel and Palestine
Hamas and Fatah have declared a truce (again). The more I read about this, the worse it looks. Apparently the fighting has escalated since Abbas called for early elections. This truce looks like a chance for two terrorist organizations to remove a distraction in their common cause: the destruction of Israel. Haaretz has details.
Abbas and Haniyeh called Tuesday afternoon on the warring factions to stop fighting in the Gaza Strip, after a day of violence in which six people were killed.
"I call on all to show restraint and calm, not to resort to arms and to end tensions," Haniyeh said in a speech broadcast live on television, in which he also urged the warring factions to unite in the struggle against Israel.
"This nation, this people, will be united in front of the occupation and aggression and will not be engaged, despite the wounds of the past few days, in internal fighting," Haniyeh said in a televised speech.
Abbas said in a statement, "I call on ... all, without exception, to adhere to a cease-fire and to end the killings and all other operations in order to maintain our national unity."
What national unity? There doesn't seem to be any, except on one point: both sides want to see Israel wiped off of the map, and they can't work toward that aim when they're killing each other.
Amid calls for a truce, Haniyeh also slammed Abbas' call for early Palestinian elections "illegal" and accused the United States of spearheading efforts to bring down his democratically-elected government.
"I want to clarify that we consider the issue of the early elections for the presidency and parliament unconstitutional," Haniyeh said. "If you [Abbas] consider the people the source of power, why are you working against the will of the people."
I've always wondered about terrorists and their comprehension of certain Western concepts like Democracy. I don't know enough about the Palestinian constitution to say, but holding elections seems to be a good way to determine what the will of the people is. I wonder what the parliamentary procedure for calling for elections is in Palestine anyway?
What is it that Fatah has to fear from a new election anyway?
"There is an undeclared decision to bring down the government... and the Americans are leading this effort," Haniyeh added.
...
The internal Palestinian fighting, the worst in a decade, has escalated since Abbas called Saturday for early elections in an attempt to break a political deadlock with the Hamas government. Hamas has accused Abbas of launching a "coup."
Which is it I wonder? Is the United States trying to bring down the Palestinian government or is Abbas trying to launch a coup? And how does a "coup" come from democratically held elections?
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, is expected to make a major speech in Gaza at 6 P.M. (1600 GMT) to respond to Abbas's election call. Hamas has said it would boycott any polls.
That seems like a sure way to lose in the polls. I know that some say that Hamas would rig the election, but not voting is a sure way to not get what you want.
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