Hamas victory a wake-up call for Mideast

Tom Aspell Correspondent • Profile

GAZA CITY — In an overwhelming victory, the Islamic militant party Hamas has effectively taken control of the Palestinian government after winning an unforseen 76 seats in the 132-seat Palestinian parliament.

While both the United States and Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, which they refuse to recognize or negotiate with, the results of the election are clear. With voter turnout reportedly as high as 77 percent out of the 1.3 million eligible voters, and the elections considered free and fair by outside observers, a Hamas mandate is undisputed.

NBC News’ Tom Aspell reports from Gaza City on the election and the seismic shift that may result from it in the Palestinian territories, within Israel, and throughout the region.

So what happened?
Well, the first of the exit polls came out about three hours after the polls closed last night, and it seemed like Fatah had a narrow lead.  But by early this morning the whole situation had turned upside down.

This is an amazing victory for Hamas. This is the first time that they ever contested an election here and they’ve won more than 50 percent of the seats in parliament. With that victory, the mood is definitely going to change here.

The overwhelming majority won by Hamas means it doesn’t need any coalition to run the government. It’s an absolute winner, so they are the new government of the Palestinian territories.

The current Palestinian cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, a member of Fatah, is now a caretaker government. In a sign of concession, Qureia submitted his resignation early this morning, and that has been accepted. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also from Fatah, will remain on because he was elected separately a year ago, on a four-year term.

Now, though, if Abbas talks to anyone — for example Israel or the Americans — any decisions he makes have to be approved by Hamas. So, they are the watchdog over the president and he is now reduced to a figurehead role.

When asked about their attitude towards negotiations with Israel, a Hamas representative told us this morning that nothing would change. They will not talk to the Israelis and they will not recognize Israel as an independent state until they receive some concessions from Israel and some incentives to come to talks with them. And even then, they may not talk face to face, but through a third party — that’s according to Hamas officials here this morning.

Israel and the United States have said they would not deal with a government led by Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings and which they consider a terrorist group. So, what does that mutual disregard mean for the peace process?
What it means is that the peace process is absolutely dead in the water as of this moment.

The Israelis say that they will not talk to Hamas, unless Hamas disarms and recognizes the right of Israel to exist.

Hamas says that it won’t even talk to Israel until Israel makes some concessions on points that we know Israel will never agree to — the return of Palestinian refugees to their original homes, the future of Jerusalem, the release of all Palestinian prisoners — all matters that Israel has already said a definitive “no” to in the past.

And the American position is that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and they won’t talk to them either.

So, right now, you have the two sides in the process — the Israelis and the Palestinians — neither of them talking to each other, and both of them practically refusing to recognize one another. So, the peace process is really dead in the water.

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