Hamas Poll Manifesto Drops "Israel Destruction": Report

[sonz]

LONDON, January 12, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has dropped its call for the destruction of Israel from its manifesto for the Palestinian parliamentary election in a fortnight, bringing the group closer to the rules of the political process, according a British daily Thursday, January 12.

The Islamic group still calls for the maintenance of armed resistance against Israeli occupation, but it steps back from Hamas's 1988 charter demanding Israel's eradication and the establishment of a Palestinian state in its place, according to The Guardian.

"The manifesto makes no mention of the destruction of the Jewish state and instead takes a more ambiguous position by saying that Hamas had decided to compete in the elections because it would contribute to 'the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem'."

Hamas, expected to put on a strong performance against President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group, has come under growing pressure from Israel, Washington and the European Union.

The Mideast Quartet has called for any future Palestinian government not to include members of groups "not committed to Israel's right to exist".

"The Quartet expressed its view that a future Palestinian Authority Cabinet should include no member who has not committed to the principles of Israel's right to exist in peace and security and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism," the Quartet said in a statement, December 28, 2005.

The statement of the international committee, which groups the United States, European Union, the United Nations and Russia, was referring to the resistance group Hamas, but without naming it.

Hamas, which is putting up candidates for parliament for the first time, is expected to do well against President Mahmoud Abbas's fractured Fatah in the January 25 legislative polls.

Future Generations

"We will not accept a terrorist (Palestinian) Authority after the elections," Mofaz said.

According to The Guardian's report, opinion polls give Hamas more than a third of the popular vote, built on a campaign against Fatah's endemic corruption and mismanagement and failure to contain growing criminality, and by claiming credit for driving the Israeli army and settlers out of Gaza.

But, according to the daily, the manifesto continues to emphasize the armed struggle. "Our nation is at a stage of national liberation, and it has the right to act to regain its rights and end the occupation by using all means, including armed resistance."

The Guardian quoted Gazi Hamad, a Hamas candidate in the Gaza Strip, as saying the manifesto reflected the group's position of accepting an interim state based on 1967 borders but leaving a final decision on whether to recognize Israel to future generations.

"Hamas is talking about the end of the occupation as the basis for a state, but at the same time Hamas is still not ready to recognize the right of Israel to exist," he told the paper.

"We cannot give up the right of the armed struggle because our territory is occupied in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. That is the territory we are fighting to liberate."

But Hamad said the armed resistance was no longer Hamas's primary strategy. "The policy is to maintain the armed struggle but it is not our first priority. We know that first of all we have to put more effort into resolving the internal problems, dealing with corruption, blackmail, chaos. This is our priority because if we change the situation for the Palestinians it will make our cause stronger.

"Hamas is looking to establish a new political strategy in which all Palestinian groups will participate, not just dominated by Fatah. We will discuss the negotiation strategy, how can we run the conflict with Israel but by different means."

The daily quoted Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian cabinet minister and member of the Palestinian People's party, as saying he believed Hamas was being forced to face reality as it prepared to sit in parliament, and that it would have to embrace a negotiated settlement with Israel.

"Having Hamas inside the system is a positive development whereby they have to abide by the rules of the majority and respect the arguments of the administration they are part of, which includes a state built on 1967 borders. It will take time but Hamas will no longer have their own militia. It will be solely a political force."

Israeli Defiance

But Israel's security establishment predicts that if Hamas does as well as expected in the election it will damage the Palestinian Authority and further undermine the prospects for an agreement.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying Thursday that Israel will not accept the emergence of a "terrorist" Palestinian Authority after this month's parliamentary election.

"We will not accept a terrorist (Palestinian) Authority after the elections and we demand that (Palestinian leader) Mahmud Abbas presents a plan on dismantling terrorist organizations," AFP quoted him as telling public radio.

Mofaz was speaking after talks in Tel Aviv with US officials David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Elliot Abrams, White House envoy on the Middle East.

Israel is opposed to the participation of Hamas.

"Presenting a plan against terrorist organizations is a condition for implementing the roadmap," said Mofaz.

The internationally drafted pace plan, which has made next to no progress since its launch in 2003, calls for an end to Israeli-Palestinian violence, a freeze in Israeli settlement activity and the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Israeli cabinet is expected Sunday to formally allow Palestinians living in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem to vote in the January 25 poll, a decision that Mofaz announced last week has already been made in principle.