Word: palestinians
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Hamas' stunning victory in the Palestinian elections left the Bush Administration in a difficult position this morning, forced to reconcile the fruits of its push for democracy in the Middle East with its goal of peace in the region. In response, the White House argued that the vote was a rejection of the ruling guard Fatah's corruption, rather than the peace process itself. Speaking at a press conference this morning, President Bush called the Hamas win a ?wake-up? call for the Fatah leadership. "You see, when you give people the vote, give them the chance to express themselves...
...Quartet, an international peace-making group that is composed of representatives from the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia. That meeting is expected to take place next Monday, when Rice and other foreign ministers and international officials gather in London for a donors? conference on Afghanistan. Meanwhile, she telephoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livini and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. Then, speaking via videoconference to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rice offered a muted response, suggesting that the election results demonstrated popular disaffection with Fatah but were not necessarily an endorsement of militancy...
...Palestinian people have apparently voted for change,? she said, ?but we believe that their aspirations for peace and a peaceful life remain unchanged." Then, alluding to Hamas? commitment to armed resistance to Israel, she said that the Palestinians can only achieve peace ?through a two-state solution, which requires a renunciation of violence and turning away from terrorism and accepting the right of Israel to exist and the disarmament of militias. As we have said, you cannot have one foot in politics and the other in terror. Our position on Hamas has therefore not changed...
...does not recognize the existence of Israel and it is a group that has not renounced violence and the problem, of course, is a very practical problem. In addition to the fact that the United States won't change its policies toward Hamas, the practical problem is that the Palestinian leadership in the roadmap is committed to a renunciation of violence, committed to dismantling terrorist organizations, committed to a peaceful road." With Hamas' victory, the U.S. knows that road will probably now be a lot more bumpy...
Dealing with Israel-in either sense of that term-is not a priority for Hamas right now, nor will it be for some time to come. Instead, the radical Islamist group that won a landslide victory in Wednesday's Palestinian Legislative Council election, taking 76 seats to the 43 of the ruling Fatah party in the 132-seat parliament, will focus on its stated priority of "cleaning the Palestinian house." What this means, concretely, is ridding the Palestinian Authority of rampant corruption, and establishing law and order on the chaotic streets of the West Bank and Gaza. Ironically, that means...