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Hamas member during recent Gaza clashes photo :AFP

Sever Plocker

Hamas as a political party

If Hamas lays down its guns, Israel should allow the group to stand for elections

Published: 10.09.05, 09:47 / Israel Opinion

Elections to the Palestinian parliament, scheduled for January, were supposed to offer three models of government on which to build the Palestinian state: An Islamic-totalitarian regime, a la Iran; a secular one-party regime such as Egypt; and a moderate religious-democratic state such as Turkey.

But the preparations for the elections are now perceived as "dangerous" because of a "weak Mahmoud Abbas" and "strong Hamas."

Uncertainty

PA political crisis looming / Ali Waked

Palestinian Authority sources say Abbas may delay general elections and announce a state of emergency in light of the recent escalation in Gaza; Hamas in response: Those who are calling to delay the elections for security reasons are trying to avoid the elections and their results

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But is it really so? Polls in the Palestinian Authority (and according to results in the West Bank elections) suggest there is a small chance Hamas will win a sweeping victory. They are more likely to win approximately 20 percent of the vote.

A legitimate religious party

Many Palestinians turned their backs on extremism when they watched the disaster it brought on the Arab world and Palestinian society.

At the same time, Israel is correct to object to Hamas' participation in elections in its current makeup: A terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel and a violator of human rights. There is just about no Western democracy that would allow such a group to participate in democratic elections.

But blocking Hamas' participation is not akin to silencing the organization or its ideas. If the organizations political leadership can separate itself from its terrorist mafia, if it lays down its weapons and commits itself to honor the rules of the democratic game, Israel must withdraw its objection to allowing Hamas to participate in the elections as a legitimate religious party.

By limiting elections to parties who meet with the approval of an occupying power, the elections will lose all legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinian voter.

Anyone wanting to push the Palestinians towards the "Turkish model" of government – and Israel and the international community certainly have such an interest – must not force an Egyptian or Iranian model of elections.

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