Hamas a big winner in West Bank election

The results of elections held on Dec. 15 in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority indicate that a realignment of political organizations has taken place. On Jan. 25, 2006, national elections will be held for the Palestinian Legislative Council.

While the elections are a barometer of public opinion, it must be understood that they were held while virtually all of Palestine is under a brutal Zionist occupation spearheaded by the U.S.-armed and financed Israeli Defense Forces, the Shabak secret police and gun-toting racist settlers.

Popular Palestinian political leaders like Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Sadat have been imprisoned for years, while others like Abu Ali Mustafa, Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Dr. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi have been victims of targeted assassinations.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas, was the big winner, with victories in large towns and municipalities - Kabalan, Sanur, Yamun, Lahia, Bureij, Jenin, Qalqil yah, Nablus and El-Bireh—where over 1 million Palestinians live.

The Palestinian National Liber ation Movement, or Fatah, has recently split into at least two factions. One of the factions is led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The split resulted in a breakdown of election-day efforts and the organization did not do as well as it had done in the past.

Also taking part in the elections were the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP).

Based on its political program, a vote for Hamas was a vote against the partition of Palestine and for militant resistance against Zionist occupation. The organization not only opposes the post-1967 Zion ist settlements in the West Bank but also the pre-1948 Zionist settlements along the Medi ter ranean coast and in inland areas like the Galilee and Negev desert. Hamas runs many educational and charitable organizations in a highly efficient manner and has an armed wing called the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade.

The U.S. and its European allies have put heavy pressure on Pales tinians not to vote for Hamas in the coming national elections. Providing any form of material assistance to Hamas is illegal for U.S. citizens, and the Justice Department has targeted Hamas’s political supporters.

On Dec. 16, the U.S. House of Repre sentatives passed a resolution by a large majority, 397 to 17, threatening to withhold aid from the Palestinian Authority if Hamas is part of the next government. On Dec. 18 Javier Solana, the External Affairs Commissioner of the European Union, threatened that the E.U. would do the same unless Hamas recognized the Israeli settler state and ceased all military activities. Khalid Mishaal, the political leader of Hamas, denounced these threats.

A few days after the electoral victory of Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister and war criminal Ariel Sharon was hospitalized with a stroke. A Hamas victory next month could make things even worse for the health of the Israeli settler state.