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Hamas triumphs as Fatah struggles
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is scrambling to heal a split in his ruling Fatah party, while the Islamic movement Hamas has outstripped his faction in the latest round of municipal elections in the West Bank.
Young Fatah dissidents said they were forming a new party, dealing Abbas a blow less than six weeks before a parliamentary election where Hamas, whose power has increased since the start of an uprising in 2000, will challenge Fatah for the first time.
The rift in Fatah's ranks, which could further boost Hamas before the 25 January parliamentary poll, came as Israel launched a new round of air strikes in Gaza and Palestinian fighters increased their rocket attacks against the Jewish state.
An Israeli missile strike in northern Gaza late on Thursday targeted roads leading to areas where Palestinian fighters launch rocket attacks, the army said. Palestinian medics said two people were injured in the strike.
Defying Abbas, a younger generation of Fatah leaders led by Marwan Barghouthi, the movement's jailed leader, announced on Wednesday night that they were running for parliament on a competing ticket, triggering one of the gravest crises in Fatah's 40-year history.
The official Fatah list presented with Abbas's approval included Ahmed Qurie, a former Yasser Arafat loyalist. Qurie resigned as prime minister on Thursday, as required by law for cabinet members running for parliament.
There was no immediate word on who would replace him.
Hamas sweep
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official said that preliminary results showed that Hamas swept the latest round of municipal elections in key West Bank cities, beating Fatah to take control of the councils of Nablus and al-Bireh.
A Palestinian official who helped administer the poll said Hamas won about the same number of seats as Fatah in the town of Jenin, while Fatah retained control of the city of Ram Allah, where the main government and parliamentary offices are located.
Final results were expected by the end of the week.
Hamas had made strong gains in previous voting rounds, especially in Gaza, where its power has strengthened further since Israel quit the area in September.
Sworn to Israel's destruction, the group could undermine Abbas's peace efforts with Israel if it gains clout in parliament.
Fatah's younger generation has voiced fears that continued domination by the old guard, widely viewed as tainted by corruption and cronyism, will benefit Hamas.
Unhappy about not getting enough slots on the party ticket, the Fatah dissidents registered their own list, prompting Fatah officials to begin contacts to unify the group, long a dominant force in Palestinian politics.
Damage control
Abbas and Barghouthi, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison over armed attacks, spoke by phone and agreed to further discussions. Barghouthi's supporters believe that he could be freed in a future peace deal.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said: "We will employ every damage-control mechanism to avoid Fatah's division."
Qaddoura Fares, a Palestinian legislator who is also part of the new party's roster, said Barghouthi had told aides to remove his name from the Fatah list. Others said they were not quitting Abbas's group.
Abbas is also struggling to contain unrest among disaffected Fatah fighters in Gaza, an impoverished area viewed as a testing ground for Palestinian statehood in the wake of Israel's withdrawal.
Persistent violence despite a nine-month-old truce has reduced the chances of resuming peace efforts, which have been on hold as Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, prepares to campaign for re-election in elections in March.
Violence has surged since a Palestinian bomber killed five Israelis on 5 December and Israeli air raids killed four fighters in Gaza on Wednesday, while Palestinian rocket attacks from the area have increased.
Several rockets fired by Gaza fighters landed in Israeli towns on Thursday, causing no casualties. One was found near the city of Ashkelon for the first time since August 2003.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8F21DF42-2B21-43FB-8B1C-7F8AC7C136B0.htm
The rift in Fatah's ranks, which could further boost Hamas before the 25 January parliamentary poll, came as Israel launched a new round of air strikes in Gaza and Palestinian fighters increased their rocket attacks against the Jewish state.
An Israeli missile strike in northern Gaza late on Thursday targeted roads leading to areas where Palestinian fighters launch rocket attacks, the army said. Palestinian medics said two people were injured in the strike.
Defying Abbas, a younger generation of Fatah leaders led by Marwan Barghouthi, the movement's jailed leader, announced on Wednesday night that they were running for parliament on a competing ticket, triggering one of the gravest crises in Fatah's 40-year history.
The official Fatah list presented with Abbas's approval included Ahmed Qurie, a former Yasser Arafat loyalist. Qurie resigned as prime minister on Thursday, as required by law for cabinet members running for parliament.
There was no immediate word on who would replace him.
Hamas sweep
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official said that preliminary results showed that Hamas swept the latest round of municipal elections in key West Bank cities, beating Fatah to take control of the councils of Nablus and al-Bireh.
A Palestinian official who helped administer the poll said Hamas won about the same number of seats as Fatah in the town of Jenin, while Fatah retained control of the city of Ram Allah, where the main government and parliamentary offices are located.
Final results were expected by the end of the week.
Hamas had made strong gains in previous voting rounds, especially in Gaza, where its power has strengthened further since Israel quit the area in September.
Sworn to Israel's destruction, the group could undermine Abbas's peace efforts with Israel if it gains clout in parliament.
Fatah's younger generation has voiced fears that continued domination by the old guard, widely viewed as tainted by corruption and cronyism, will benefit Hamas.
Unhappy about not getting enough slots on the party ticket, the Fatah dissidents registered their own list, prompting Fatah officials to begin contacts to unify the group, long a dominant force in Palestinian politics.
Damage control
Abbas and Barghouthi, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison over armed attacks, spoke by phone and agreed to further discussions. Barghouthi's supporters believe that he could be freed in a future peace deal.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said: "We will employ every damage-control mechanism to avoid Fatah's division."
Qaddoura Fares, a Palestinian legislator who is also part of the new party's roster, said Barghouthi had told aides to remove his name from the Fatah list. Others said they were not quitting Abbas's group.
Abbas is also struggling to contain unrest among disaffected Fatah fighters in Gaza, an impoverished area viewed as a testing ground for Palestinian statehood in the wake of Israel's withdrawal.
Persistent violence despite a nine-month-old truce has reduced the chances of resuming peace efforts, which have been on hold as Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, prepares to campaign for re-election in elections in March.
Violence has surged since a Palestinian bomber killed five Israelis on 5 December and Israeli air raids killed four fighters in Gaza on Wednesday, while Palestinian rocket attacks from the area have increased.
Several rockets fired by Gaza fighters landed in Israeli towns on Thursday, causing no casualties. One was found near the city of Ashkelon for the first time since August 2003.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8F21DF42-2B21-43FB-8B1C-7F8AC7C136B0.htm
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Preliminary results showed that Hamas won majority of votes in Nablus, Jenin and Al-Bireh – headquarters of the Palestinian Authority - while the ruling Fatah group and independent candidates won in Ramallah and smaller cities.
"In the cities, Hamas won a resounding victory," a senior electoral official said Friday, December16 , Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
Fatah, by contract, won the majority in the smaller towns and villages, the source added, quoting preliminary results of the poll in which1 ,321 candidates were running for a seat in 42 municipalities.
In the major cities, each local council has 15 seats.
However, Fatah's strong showing in the smaller municipalities gave it an overall victory in terms of seats, grabbing some 35 percent of414 seats compared with 26 percent won by Hamas.
The remaining seats were taken by smaller coalitions or independent candidates.
Official results for the election are expected to be published at the end of the week.
Thursday's vote was seen as a test of Hamas's strength ahead of the January legislative elections.
The Palestinian legislative elections are due January25 ,2006 , with all factions participating except Islamic Jihad which chose to boycott the process.
Hamas is widely expected to make a strong showing in the legislative polls at the expense of Abbas' mainstream Fatah movement.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to disrupt the January elections if Hamas fielded candidates in the polls.
Strong Showing
The Palestinian polls showed that Hamas won 53 percent of local council seats in the West Bank town of Al-Bireh while Fatah received only27 percent, according to Reuters.
The resistance group also garnered 43 percent of municipal cities in Jenin, while Fatah and other groups retained 42 percent of seats.
In Ramallah, where the main Palestinian government offices are located, Fatah grabbed 34 percent of council seats while Hamas only received31 percent.
The Palestinian Center of Policy and Survey Research had said in an earlier projection that Hamas had won68 % of seats in the Nablus city council while Fatah garnered16 %.
Hearing the results, Palestinians in Nablus celebrated in the streets, chanting "God is great", while drivers waved the green flag of Hamas and honked their horns.
Turnout of the Thursday's polls stood at around 75 percent, the electoral official said.
Hamas made strong showing in the first three rounds of municipal elections.
Pundits have said that the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip in September and October was aimed at provoking Hamas into attacking Israeli targets and eventually undermining its participation in the elections.
Hamas, which saw its popularity soaring during more than four years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, entered electoral politics for the first time at the end of2004 .
It secured a landslide victory over Fatah in the first-ever Gaza Strip council elections in January.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-12/16/article01.shtml
The results dealt a harsh blow to Fatah, the party led by the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, six weeks before parliamentary elections.
If Hamas enjoyed similar success in January's polls, it could damage the renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Last night, thousands of Hamas supporters celebrated in the streets, chanting "God is greatest". Preliminary results showed the group won more than 70% of the vote - 13 seats - in Nablus, a traditional Fatah stronghold.
Hamas won eight seats in Jenin, while in el-Bireh, a large suburb of Ramallah, it won 72% percent of the vote to take nine seats.
Fatah won two seats in Nablus and seven in Jenin in coalitions with other parties. The party won four in el-Bireh, and the final results will be announced on Sunday.
Fatah suffered a split on Thursday when the jailed militant leader Marwan Barghouti left the party and drew up a rival list of candidates ahead of January's elections.
Barghouti's supporters, a group known as the Young Guard, said they were trying to modernise and democratise Fatah by rebelling against its leadership. They formed a new party called Future.
Writing in the Al-Ayyam daily, Hani Masri said Hamas' sweeping victory had been a direct result of Fatah's internal struggle.
"Fatah today is a sinking ship. Everyone is trying to jump ship and this will open the way for Hamas to win the upcoming election," he said.
More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1669174,00.html
December 17, 2005, 5:00 PM (GMT+02:00)
A special Iranian plane flew Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to Revolutionary Guards HQ at Bandar Abbas Monday, Dec. 12, after he spent 10 days in Tehran as favored guest of Iran’s clerical rulers - DEBKAfile’s counter-terror report exclusively.
There, he conferred with the RG commanders, heads of its intelligence branch and officers of the al Quds Battalions, which host the men fighting in Iraq under al Qaeda chief Abu Musab al Zarqawi for training, medical aid and rest. Meshall conferred with the RG commanders on operational collaboration between the two Palestinian groups Hamas and Jihad Islami in Gaza and the West Bank and their hook-up with Iranian networks and Hizballah in Lebanon. Tehran is footing the bill for the boost in their terror operations.
DEBKAfile terror experts add: The Bandar Abbas conference also discussed ways and means of bolstering al Qaeda’s presence in the Gaza Strip and helping Osama bin Laden’s organization spread its wings to the West Bank alongside Meshaal’s own Hamas.
Two days after the US House of Representatives passed a resolution warning the Palestinian Authority that it could lose financial aid if Hamas runs in the upcoming elections, the European Union's foreign policy chief warned that the EU could halt tens of millions of dollars of aid to the PA if Hamas wins the election and fails to renounce violence.
Hamas swept municipal elections in several West Bank cities last week, reflecting Palestinian dissatisfaction with the ruling Fatah Party.
The strong showing, combined with bitter infighting within Fatah, has raised concerns that Hamas could win the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections.
"All the political parties have the right to be part of the elections, but there is a certain code of conduct that has to be accepted by everybody," Solana told reporters during a visit to Tel Aviv. "It's very difficult that parties who do not condemn violence...can be partners for the future."
Solana said that an administration including a party which failed to clearly reject violence and recognize Israel's right to exist could not continue to receive EU funding. EU aid is slated to reach €260 million ($312 million) in 2006.
"It would be very difficult for the help and the money that goes to the Palestinian Authority to continue to flow," he said. "The taxpayers in the European Union, members of the parliament of the European Union, will not be in a position to sustain that type of political activity."
The US House of Representatives Friday passed a resolution stating that American support for the Palestinian Authority would be placed at risk by any Hamas participation in government.
Israeli officials have also called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to bar Hamas from the parliamentary election, saying a victory by the group would deal a devastating blow to peace prospects.
The Palestinians rely on the international community for roughly half of their annual operating budget. Still, Palestinian officials, including those from Fatah, have backed Hamas' right to contest the elections and urged the international community to stay out of internal Palestinian affairs.
They have to believe that the charge of antisemitism is just a Zi-i-i-i-ionist "jedi mind trick." And when we can demonstrate that's clearly not the case, they suddenly vanish or do everything they can to change the subject.
Why does the anti-Zionist left have such a hard time getting clear of the antisemitism issue? Because they don't take it seriously, and it's clear that they don't take it seriously. And as long as that's the case, they'll never be clear of it; they'll remain huddled in little sandboxes like this one, unable to get their message out, because every time they try to step out into polite society, sooner or later they say something antisemitic, or are clearly seen to ignore it when when of their colleagues does.
@%<
Over and over in their futile attempt to shout down criticism of terrorist Israeli policies?
Yawn.