World reaction to the Hamas victory: 'Fasten your seatbelts'
TimesOnline (UK) ^ | 1/26/2006 | Simon Freeman and agencies
The European Union said today that it was reviewing the hundreds of millions of euros in aid that it sends to the Palestinian Authority after the triumph of Hamas in parliamentary elections.
Western leaders lined up to express their concern at the political earthquake, but in the Arab world, the apparent landslide was greeted with jubilation as a triumph which would inspire other Islamist militant groups committed to fighting Israel and America's influence in the Middle East.
European Union leaders must decide whether to continue with its £350 million annual payments to an administration which is now, in its charter, committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. “Oh dear, fasten your seatbelts," said a senior figure on learning of the Prime Minister's resignation.
Leaders in Israel have been banned from making public statements by the acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. An emergency security meeting has been convened as politicians decide on their response which will be made public following confirmation of the results at 5pm (1500GMT).
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who is in Ankara, said that Hamas would only gain the support of the international community if it opts for democracy over terrorism.
"It is up to Hamas to choose. We will have to wait and see, the international community will want Hamas to make a proper rejection of violence and to acknowledge that Israel exists," he said.
Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said that any group wanting to take part in democratic politics should disarm.
He told Reuters television at the World Economic Forum in Davos: "Any group that wishes to participate in the democratic process should ultimately disarm because to carry weapons and participate in a democratic process and sit in parliament, there is a fundamental contradiction and I’m sure they (Hamas) are thinking about that too."
Javier Solana, the EU Foreign Policy Chief, said that the result raised questions of the EU's contributions to the Palestinians. "These results may confront us with an entirely new situation, which will need to be analysed by [EU foreign ministers] next Monday," he said.
"The EU will express its views and prospects for co-operation with the future Palestinian government in the light of that discussion and of developments on the ground."
Brussels pledged some €280 million in aid alone to the Palestinians in 2005. It has earmarked funds to build a cargo terminal at Gaza airport and sent a monitoring mission to the Gaza Strip border with Egypt.
"It might be a bit difficult to continue to commit European taxpayers’ money to a Palestinian Authority which would not be committed to a peaceful dialogue with Israel," said one diplomat. The issue will top the agenda when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday.
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, said that the victory of the Islamic militant group Hamas in Palestinian legislative elections was a "very, very, very bad result."
"If this news was confirmed, everything we had hoped for, that chance for peace between Israel and Palestine, is postponed to who knows when," Berlusconi said, according to the ANSA and Apcom news agencies. "It is a very, very, very bad result."
Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister, was less forthright. "As a government we have very good relations (in the region), we will be trying to support the restoration of the peace process," she said.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister, said: "We could imagine various forces in the (Palestinian) government. But there are two conditions: the forces that join the government must renounce violence," he told German public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk, adding that the second condition was respecting Israel’s right to exist.
"It seems Hamas still has a long way to go," he added.
Mr Olmert said yesterday that that Israel cannot trust a Palestinian leadership in which the Islamic group has a role.
In the absence of peace talks, Israel is likely to pursue unilateral moves to set a final border on occupied land. This is expected to follow the disputed "suicide bomb" barrier it is building in the West Bank.
Across much of the Arab and Muslim world, the ballot result was a source of celebration. In Iran, which is accused by Israel and the United States of supplying Hamas with weapons and funding, state-run radio said that the vote showed Palestinians support resistance against Israel.
"Now the real representatives of the Palestinian people have come to power," said Javad Majidi, a student at Iran’s Tehran University.
Jihad-Daneshgai, a semi-governmental cultural body active in Iranian universities, congratulated Hamas in a statement, saying the victory "angers the arrogant leaders of the US and the occupiers of Jerusalem (Israel)."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran met Hamas and other militant leaders in Damascus last week, although the regime insists it only gives the groups moral support.
"What happened was tantamount to an earthquake," said Muhammad Jalbout, a Palestinian living in Syria.
"This is a victory to all the region’s free people," said Ayyoub Muhanna, a 29-year-old Lebanese who owns a spare parts shop in the southeast town of Rashaya. "The Palestinians gave their vote to the party that gave of its blood."
Some predicted that Hamas’ victory will spur other Islamist groups in the region to seek more political participation. It will give them a major boost," said Dia’a Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic movements.
Essam el-Aryan, a spokesman for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood which recently increased the number of its seats in Egypt’s parliament from 17 to 88 said the Brotherhood was jubilant.
"This is a great victory for Hamas," he said. But he added that the organisation now faces the challenge "of maintaining good relations with the Arab governments and world powers to secure support for the Palestinian cause."
Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi who hosts a political talk show on Dubai TV, said the Hamas win "will reflect positively on the political process, because Hamas has a good reputation in the Palestinian street." |
