Commentary

Hypocrisy and the Palestinian Elections

Despite predictions of a Hamas victory by virtually every commentator in Palestine and the Arab world, the Western media appeared stunned by the January 25 Palestinian election results. Headlines declared Hamas’ win everything from an “upset victory” to a “stunning blow” to the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Western leaders and the Israeli government reacted quickly, with some hinting that they would not recognize a Palestinian government led by Hamas despite all evidence that the Palestinian elections were conducted freely and fairly. All demanded that Hamas renounce violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared openly that Israel would never recognize Hamas. “If a government led by Hamas or in which Hamas is a coalition partner is established, the Palestinian Authority will turn into an authority that supports terror," he said. "Israel and the world will ignore it and make it irrelevant." Likud party leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went a step further, likening Hamas’ victory to a declaration of war against Israel by the Palestinians and describing the occupied territories and Gaza Strip as “Hamasastan”.

U.S. President George Bush told reporters that Hamas would have to immediately renounce violence in order to be recognized by his regime. “I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as a part of your platform," he told a White House press conference. "And I know you can't be a partner in peace if your party has got an armed wing."

U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, told a press conference in Switzerland: "Anyone who wants to govern and do so with the support of the international community has got to be committed to a two-state solution and must be committed to the right of Israel to exist, must be committed to the renunciation of violence."

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper acknowledged that Hamas was elected democratically but added, “for a nation to be truly democratic that nation must renounce any use of terrorism.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking in Dublin, said: "Of course, we recognize the mandate for Hamas because the people have spoken in a particular way in the Palestinian Authority. But I think it is also important for Hamas to understand that there comes a point, and that point is now following that strong showing, where they have to decide between a path of democracy or a path of violence."

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union foreign affairs commissioner, said democracy "brings with it a responsibility to respect the rule of law, to end violence and commit to peace by peaceful means, through negotiations with Israel."

What is most striking about these reactions is the blatant double standard when it comes to violence and terror against civilians. Suicide bombings orchestrated by the military wing of Hamas have led to the death of an estimated 500 Israeli civilians over the past decade; the number of Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli Defence Force soldiers during that same period is 10 times that, according to figures from leading Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. Yet not a single one of these leaders called on Israel to end its campaign of violence against Palestinian civilians for the good of peace prospects in the region. Not a single one of these leaders has threatened to withhold recognition of elected Israeli governments unless they renounce the use of state terrorism against the Palestinians. Over the years, this state terrorism has taken many forms including the expansion of illegal settlements within the West Bank, East Jerusalem and until August, the Gaza Strip, the collective punishment of the Palestinian people including the destruction of Palestinian homes and agricultural land, curfews, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and the use of extra-judicial assassinations.

President Bush’s claim that a party with an armed wing cannot be a partner in peace obviously does not apply to the United States, Israel or any other nation friendly to U.S. imperialism. The armed wing of the U.S. government is reviled around the world for its disregard for civilian life, its use of torture and the prison camps it operates. The “armed wing” of Haganah, the Zionist paramilitary group which fought for the creation of the State of Israel and whose tactics included massacres in Palestinian villages and the bombing of the King David Hotel, was transformed into the Israeli Defence Forces. There is also the Israeli settler movement, closely linked to Likud and other right-wing parties, whose armed wings have been involved in planting bombs in Palestinian schools, hospitals and businesses, opening fire on unarmed civilians and destroying harvested olives, fruits and vegetables.

And Stephen Harper’s musings on the need for any democracy to renounce the use of terrorism obviously do not apply to the U.S., whose soldiers routinely violate international law, massacre civilians and bomb civilian infrastructure, torture and brutalize POWs and other terrorist acts, all justified by the Americans on the grounds that these are not individual acts of terrorism but “collateral damage”. The U.S. has also provided support to terrorist groups around the world, including al-Queda in the 1980s, as a routine part of its foreign policy.

Responding to the calls for his party to renounce violence, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas’ senior leader in Gaza, pointed to Hamas’ respect for the ceasefire agreement negotiated at an Israeli-Palestinian summit last year. He also said the Palestinian people could not give up their right to resist occupation, a right enshrined in international law. "We are under occupation. The Israelis continue aggression against our people: killing, detentions, demolitions. In order to stop this, we are entitled to self-defence by all means including using guns. If the Israelis stop their aggression, we will be committed to the quiet," he said.

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