Hamas sweeps Palestinian election
Reuters - 1 hour, 37 minutes ago

GAZA - The Islamic militant Hamas group swept to victory over the long-dominant Fatah party on Thursday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, a political earthquake that could bury any hope for reviving peace talks with Israel soon. The shock outcome, acknowledged by Fatah ahead of official results, does not automatically unseat President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate elected last year after Yasser Arafat's death. But he has said he might resign if unable to pursue a peace policy.
you'll find more articles at the link.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Mideast_Conflict/

http://homepage.mac.com/cfj/.Pictures/hamas-kid-knife.jpg
http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images/000/153/395_hamas1.jpg

I think I speak for all of my people when I say "Oy, vey".

No worries, GWB will protect us all.

Not to defend political parties but people love Hamas because they help build schools/roads/hospitals/give money to people. You guys only hear about the suicide wing but they also have a charity wing.

Not to defend political parties but people love Hamas because they help build schools/roads/hospitals/give money to people. You guys only hear about the suicide wing but they also have a charity wing.
well charity always cancels out suicide bombings. in a related note the bush family gives to charity too.

all kidding aside i think its pretty much something they have to do to keep their support strong. what kind of group asks to run your country and do suicide bombings, and then doesn't do things for the community. i mean how much support could they get then?

either way building schools in exchange for brainwashing children into blowing themselves up just doesnt really work IMO. but they won the election so it must be working regardless.

Israelis despair over Hamas victory

By Jonathan Saul 2 hours, 5 minutes ago

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Avi Zana listened with horror on Thursday to news that the Hamas militant group that killed his son had won Palestinian elections.
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On the streets of the Jewish state, there was grave concern at the victory of the Hamas movement that carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising and is formally dedicated to destroying
Israel.

"The Palestinians have shown their true face by electing Hamas," said Zana, 46. "The group does not want control of the
Palestinian Authority, it wants control of all Israel."

Among those expected to win seats in the new Palestinian parliament was Mariam Farhat, also known as Umm Nidal, who in a video tape message urged her sons to carry out attacks -- including the one on a Jewish settlement in which Zana's 18-year-old-son was killed.

Hamas has largely followed a truce for the past year and played down its charter commitment to get rid of Israel during the campaign.

Its victory was seen by Palestinians mostly as a vote for change from the dominant
Fatah movement, long accused of corruption and misrule.

"Hamas was not elected to carry out attacks against Israel. It was elected to bring about change," said Israeli analyst Yochanan Tsorev. "We have to see how things develop."

But such suggestions have done little to ease the fears of many Israelis.

"It is hard not to be even more pessimistic now about peacemaking prospects here," said Shimi Breutman, 22, a travel guide.

"We could see this whole place engulfed in even further chaos. Israel has to tread very carefully."

Peace talks collapsed in 2000 before the uprising started.

Israel, joined by the United States, refuses to negotiate with Hamas until it disarms and changes its charter.

Following Israel's pullout from the
Gaza Strip last year, Israeli leaders have mooted a possible further withdrawal from parts of the
West Bank to set a de facto border unilaterally if peace talks remain stalled.

Israeli officials were tight-lipped on Thursday as interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held hurried consultations.

Olmert, who assumed
Ariel Sharon's powers after a January 4 stroke, is expected to win a March 28 election but lacks the credentials of ex-general Sharon as someone willing to use harsh measures against the uprising. Sharon had ordered the killing of top Hamas leaders and militants after attacks.

"If Sharon had been able to continue, things would have been better. He knew how to handle Hamas," said Yossi Amzalik, 52, a shop owner.

Well I must say that bringing democracy to countries may not always be a good thing. I can hardly imagine what would happen if the Shiites took over Iraq, Hamas Palestine along with a Nuke in Iran and that fool Bashar Assad in Syria.

I don't think they are fools. A nuke is protection. The US would have been too scared to go into Iraq if they really had nukes.

ummm Gecko when have the shiites ever been a threat to take over iraq. excepet for since we tokk over Iraq? Actually no one had the nuts to overthrow Saddam and he dealt with all his shiite rivals pretty quickly through exile and execution.

honestly before we took over the shiites had no chance at all in getting Iraq sorry to say.

In the end though, it's gonna set the middle east back a decade atleast if Hamas decides to be difficult Also i dnnt believe we have a real shot at keeping Iraq from a bloody civil war once we leave. because the people we empowered there wont hold up in the long run.

things arent for sure gonna get worse IMO. but they are for sure gonna get more complicated.

JMHO

Forget about Hamas.

The Palestinians elected Hamas as their leader. The fact that the people wanted them in the office should worry people more than the fact that they (Hamas) are in the office.

What some of you may be missing about Hamas:

Its not so much that they have a charitable wing and a "separate" military wing that is so hard for people to deal with them (not that its easy b/c of that)...

but its the fact that the entire organization has in its mission statement the complete destruction and total elimination of Israel, and they vowed that they would not remove that goal from their mission statement if they won office.

How's this for an rose-colored, glass is 1/100th full spin... maybe getting bogged down in the realities of political office and running a government will mute their ability to conduct violence. Once you're accountable for making the trains run on time it's a lot harder to run around blowing shit up. This election could either cause the violent "wing" to wither and die or spin it off into a truly seperate group with a different membership, leadership and agenda.

George Bush wanted democracy (free and fair elections) and that is what the people wanted. We can't talk out of both sides of our mouth and change the rules. I can't wait until they pick a Taliban style government in Iraq so I can LOL@Bush.

Clearly this was part of the Republican agenda all along. How can any red blooded American vote for a pussy liberal for president with a clear conscience?

American is DOOOOOOOOOM3333333D!! And only the Republicans can save us!

I'm Smelling a good ole fashioned civil war


Gunmen storm Palestinian parliament

By Mohammed Assadi 1 hour, 57 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Firing into the air,
Fatah gunmen and police stormed Palestinian parliament buildings on Saturday in growing unrest after their long-dominant party's crushing election defeat by Hamas Islamists.

Hamas leaders meanwhile rejected as "blackmail" Western demands that it renounce violence against
Israel or risk losing aid vital to the survival of the
Palestinian Authority. Hopes of peacemaking with Israel have been pushed further into limbo.

Turmoil since the parliamentary election landslide has fueled fears of inter-Palestinian strife as Hamas tries to form a government and possibly take over security forces packed with Fatah loyalists at odds with the Islamic militants.

Thousands of gunmen from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah held protests across the
West Bank and in the
Gaza Strip on Saturday, many firing automatic rifles into the air.

They took over parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah for about 20 minutes, shouting demands from the roof before descending peacefully. Fatah militants and police also seized the parliament building in the Gaza Strip.

The gunmen demanded Fatah leaders resign. They also aimed to dissuade the party from any idea of sharing power with Hamas or letting it control security forces -- after Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal said it planned to form "an army."

"We will transform the army of the Palestinian Authority into armed militias. We are not waiting for Hamas to teach us their Islamic beliefs. We know the Koran by heart," said Fatah gunman Ramzi Obeid.

In Gaza, where eight people were hurt on Friday in clashes between Fatah and Hamas activists, the gunmen were joined in their protest by police opposed to any Hamas control over them.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz repeated Israel's vow not to negotiate with Hamas and to strike at its leaders if the group, which has waged a suicide bombing campaign against the Jewish state, broke a February truce.

ISRAEL TESTS ABBAS

"We will not under any circumstances agree to speak with Hamas," he told Israel's Channel 2 television. "If Hamas chooses a way of terror and violence like before ... it will come under an unprecendented Israeli attack."

Hamas leaders have also ruled out peace talks with the Jewish state. Mofaz said Israel would negotiate only with Abbas and would wait to see if he disarmed militants, as required by a U.S.-backed peace "road map," before deciding its next steps.

Both Abbas and interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was chosen to run in
Ariel Sharon's place in a March 28 ballot after Sharon suffered a stroke last month, have vowed to follow the peace plan, which has been stalled by violence.

In a message clearly aimed at Hamas, Palestinian Authority police commander Ala Hosni said the Islamist group would not be in charge of security forces because they came under the authority of President Abbas.

"The security institution is the only guarantee to prevent sedition and civil war. Civil war began in Somalia after the collapse of the army and security institutions," Hosni said.

Fatah leaders have so far rejected joining any coalition with Hamas, and it could take weeks to form one anyway. Popular jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi urged an orderly transfer of power to Hamas.

Hamas leaders are preparing to set up a government by themselves if need be, after winning votes from Palestinians tired with corruption and Fatah's failure to deliver a state, as well as supportive of a Hamas suicide bombing campaign.

The United States has said it will review aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas enters government and Israel suggested it could suspend customs revenue transfers. The
European Union, the biggest donor, is looking at its options.

Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told Reuters that the group could turn toward sources in the Arab world if the West cut off funding.

In Damascus, Meshaal said that not only would Hamas not disarm but it would form a new Palestinian security force which would be an "army like every country ... an army to defend our people against aggression."

(Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Corinne Heller in Jerusalem)

What's all this shit about Hummus. I love hummus. Hummus is delicious.

All kidding aside. Take a look at the hatred over the US in the Middle East. Where does it come from?

The truth is, we have a tendancy to fuck people in the ass once in a while. Also, we're not the most loyal of nations, siding only with our best national intrests -- which of course vary depending on the situation and who's in power where. I see Israel as a mirror image of that philosophy. The news media depicts Israel as a victim. Look closer. Actually, much of the shit going on down there are retaliatory strikes against Israeli force, policy, or both. As we have our far right psychos, they have their ultra orthodox nutjobs looking to fuck the peace process any way they can -- and that includes assassinating their own Prime Minister!

Israel is very much an aggressor. That's not to say Hamas isn't -- they are, perhaps more so. But there's two sides to everything, and both sides are responsible for any devired outcome... whether it be peace or otherwise.

Denny:

I just officially lost every single ounce of respect I had for you. Your position is not only wrong, but shortsighted, unintelligent, misguided, and flat out insulting.

Do the palestinians carry out suicide attacks as a form of "revenge" for perceived slights? Yes. Sure. But here's the difference that I'm stunned you were to ignorant to see.

Israel, like the US and other civilized societies, conduct military operations in which they target military targets which, unfortunately, hide themselves in civilian areas, so you get what they call "collateral damage", i.e. civilians that are killed by accident.

Palestinians intentionally target innocent women and children, and hope that their suicide bombs blow the limbs off as many 8 year olds as they can.

See a difference?

Nuff said, dumbass.

I didn't say suicide bombing was good.

I never said Hamas is not vicious and merciless.

What I DID say is that both sides are responsible for the shit going on down there.

What I DID say is that both the Palestinians and the Israelis have radical wings who perpetuate the violence.

Don't argue with emotion. Argue with fact, counselor. I'd love to see peace over there. Killing is never the answer. But one must ask the question: Why does it continue?

The answer, IMO, is pretty fucking obvious.

I can't wait for Tay's response, so I'll finish him off right now.

After WW2, Israel was delegated as a soviergn state by the UN, and borders were defined.

Much of the land was shit, and the Israelis irrigated it land became fertile and valuable.

For the better part of the 20th century, Britan and France had their way with the region, assigning puppet monarchies and creating nations where there were none.

After the war, both Britan and France were depleted of resources, and could not offer Israel the protection and support a stronger US could. When Nassir rose to prominence in Egypt, sparking the Suez Crisis, it was the US who again stepped in to help it's allies, who by this time had left the Middle East and much of Northern Africa dilapitated and primed for revolution.

It is true that Israel has been fighting for it's existence since the late 1940's. It is also true that Palestinians were relocated to make room for the Jewish settlers.

In speaking to a fellow coffee patron, who's half Israeli and half French, he told me that resentment for the British, especially in Egypt, nearly matches the resentment for the US. Unlike Americans, people over there remember things, and hold deep grudges. They remember that it was the British who fucked the region royally. He also said something very interesting -- that bringing the British in on the Iraqi Invasion was the WORST thing the US could have done.

Now that Hamas owns "legitimate" power (note the quotations, Tay), it might be easier to negotiate with them. They now have a world voice. What they need now is an instant dialogue with the Israelis to set the right tone.

I don't think the situation is hopeless. Both sides can point to historical injustices. What they must do NOW is point to the future, and find a way to co-exist. It's not impossible.

LOL@Denny and Tay....

You guys should use more of your time for a worthwhile cause like debating Gyros.

http://www.memphismenusonline.com/pics-logos/bartlett_gyros_deli-gyro.jpg

LOL@Denny and Tay....

You guys should use more of your time for a worthwhile cause like debating Gyros.

http://www.memphismenusonline.com/pics-logos/bartlett_gyros_deli-gyro.jpg

You fucking asshole... now I'm hungry.

With a delicious side of Hamas... I mean hummus. Mmmmmmm

What is hummus? I've heard of it but I never had it.

http://scally.typepad.com/cest_moi_qui_lai_fait/images/houmous_vue_1.jpg

It's basically blended chickpeas with lemon juice and olive oil (at least that how I make it). After that, you can add garlic or other seasoning.

Yum.

Sounds delicious... gonna buy some at the grocery store next time.

Funny how things change. This is now the Official Hummus Thread. [smilie=anxious.gif]

Simmer the peas for like an hour in just enough H20 to cover them. Add some ground sesame seed and a bold spice for flavor. The shit at the store sucks cliff.

Fuck, that's right. Sesame.

Thanks for saving my ass Hermy.