Jimmy Carter: No Allegations of Corruption Among Hamas Elected Officials
Jim Kouri, CPP
January 26, 2006
When asked by the media for his thoughts on the Hamas triumph in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, former President Jimmy Carter replied that while they have a terrorist past, at least there have been no allegations of corruption among their elected officials.[1] One of the complaints by many in the Middle East was the corruption within the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party.
Arafat himself squirreled away millions of dollars from aid packages that were intended to help the Palestinian people. However, Carter's comment appears to dismiss the years of death and destruction perpetrated by Hamas on the Jewish State.
And now the fundamental-Islamic group Hamas triumphed over the ruling Fatah party on Thursday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, and it's considered by some as a political disaster that will likely extinguish any hope for peace with Israel.
Hamas won a majority in the 132-seat legislature, winning 76 seats. Fatah only won 43 seats in Wednesday's election. The victory gives Hamas the power to shape and possibly even lead the next cabinet.
One of the first statements made by the leaders of Hamas rebuffed demands to disarm and change its charter. Part of Hamas' charter is the total destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic nation.
Israelis are in shock over this development and they wonder how they will be able to negotiate with these newly empowered Islamic Jihadists in their midst. It's one thing to fight terrorists living in the shadows, but quite another thing to deal with them when the are legally elected officials in a sovereign nation that borders the Israeli State.
With peace talks stalled since 2000, and Israel and Hamas bitter enemies, Israel's Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to unilaterally determine Israel's borders on land that the Palestinians claim as their state. Israel already pulled Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip and it was achieved without negotiations with the Palestinians.
Olmert, who became the Prime Minister after Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, repeated Israel's position that peace talks could not resume unless the Palestinian Authority disarmed terrorists and paramilitary groups.
Sadly, Hamas' support by rank-and-file Palestinians is based mostly on their suicide bombings against Israel and at no time has Hamas indicated it will discontinue their terrorist acts.
A big supporter of the radical-Islamic Hamas is Iran. Iranians celebrated the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections as a vote by the people to “resist the Zionist regime," the official state-run news agency reported on Thursday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said, “Through its vote, the Palestinian nation chose the path of resistance and is loyal to this and supports it with all its might.”
Asefi said that the level of participation by the Palestinian people was a display of their determination to “fight and resist the occupiers.”
He said that Tehran sent its congratulations to “the Palestinians, the Hamas movement, all Palestinians combatants, and the great Islamic [jihad].”
He added that the Islamic Republic hoped the “powerful presence” of Hamas on the political scene of Palestine would help the Palestinians “achieve their full rights.”
Asefi lambasted the United States for its position against Hamas and said, “The American government only supports elections that secure its goals and interests.”
But, as Jimmy Carter said, at least Hamas isn't corrupt. There's some bad news and some good news for the people of Israel: the bad news is Hamas attained legitimate power within the Palestinian State; the good news is that Jimmy Carter is leaving the Middle East.
1] CNN Interview: http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/19/i_ins.01.html
Arafat himself squirreled away millions of dollars from aid packages that were intended to help the Palestinian people. However, Carter's comment appears to dismiss the years of death and destruction perpetrated by Hamas on the Jewish State.
And now the fundamental-Islamic group Hamas triumphed over the ruling Fatah party on Thursday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, and it's considered by some as a political disaster that will likely extinguish any hope for peace with Israel.
Hamas won a majority in the 132-seat legislature, winning 76 seats. Fatah only won 43 seats in Wednesday's election. The victory gives Hamas the power to shape and possibly even lead the next cabinet.
One of the first statements made by the leaders of Hamas rebuffed demands to disarm and change its charter. Part of Hamas' charter is the total destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic nation.
Israelis are in shock over this development and they wonder how they will be able to negotiate with these newly empowered Islamic Jihadists in their midst. It's one thing to fight terrorists living in the shadows, but quite another thing to deal with them when the are legally elected officials in a sovereign nation that borders the Israeli State.
With peace talks stalled since 2000, and Israel and Hamas bitter enemies, Israel's Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to unilaterally determine Israel's borders on land that the Palestinians claim as their state. Israel already pulled Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip and it was achieved without negotiations with the Palestinians.
Olmert, who became the Prime Minister after Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, repeated Israel's position that peace talks could not resume unless the Palestinian Authority disarmed terrorists and paramilitary groups.
Sadly, Hamas' support by rank-and-file Palestinians is based mostly on their suicide bombings against Israel and at no time has Hamas indicated it will discontinue their terrorist acts.
A big supporter of the radical-Islamic Hamas is Iran. Iranians celebrated the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections as a vote by the people to “resist the Zionist regime," the official state-run news agency reported on Thursday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said, “Through its vote, the Palestinian nation chose the path of resistance and is loyal to this and supports it with all its might.”
Asefi said that the level of participation by the Palestinian people was a display of their determination to “fight and resist the occupiers.”
He said that Tehran sent its congratulations to “the Palestinians, the Hamas movement, all Palestinians combatants, and the great Islamic [jihad].”
He added that the Islamic Republic hoped the “powerful presence” of Hamas on the political scene of Palestine would help the Palestinians “achieve their full rights.”
Asefi lambasted the United States for its position against Hamas and said, “The American government only supports elections that secure its goals and interests.”
But, as Jimmy Carter said, at least Hamas isn't corrupt. There's some bad news and some good news for the people of Israel: the bad news is Hamas attained legitimate power within the Palestinian State; the good news is that Jimmy Carter is leaving the Middle East.
1] CNN Interview: http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/19/i_ins.01.html
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