Palestine: Legislative Council: Hamas 'landslide' majority victory, Fatah cabinet resigns

The world press and pollsters have been confounded, as Hamas moves to a popular-vote majority and a 'landslide victory' in its number of seats in the new Palestinian Legislative Council, located in Ramallah, West Bank. Washington Times got it wrong, saying Fatah, the party of the President of the Palestianian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had squeaked thru with a majority. Not so!



Rookmaker Club geostrategic analysis

While much comment states that the Hamas victory can be attributed to a popular rejection of corruption. widespread in and under Fatah, the ramifications may be expected to tidal-wave out into many aspects of politics and daily life in the Middle East. There's trouble ahead, certainly trouble for Israel. And Likud, the political party from which Ariel Sharon (still in a coma) withdrew to form the new Kadima party (now headed bycaretaker stand-in Ehud Olmert), the old Likud is getting international press attention in the person of former Israel Prime Minister, David Natanyahu. Even such an adamant anti-Palestinian hawk is staggered by the results of the Palestinian election. One of the first consequences of which will be uncertainties ahead as Israel itself proceeds on March 26 to form its own new government.

Meanwhile, USA President George W. Bush has declared that the US will not have dealings with Hamas, and thus no dealings with the Palestinian Authority's Hamas-run government. Because, said Bush quite correctly, Hamas is pledged to the destruction of Israel; and, said Hamas, it is still firmly committed to the destruction of Israel. Stephen Harper, new Prime Minister of Canada, also declared his country would have no dealings with Hamas for the same reason.

Ehud Olmert, the acting Prime Minister of Israel, had earlier declared that his country would promptly withdraw all the settlers occupying smaller enclaves in the West Bank (these settlements now become close to indefensible), but at the same time in the case of larger settlements - like Ma'ale Adumin which is home to some 30,000 Jewish souls near Jerusalem - Israel has a nightmare on its hands, since effective defense of these has become also extremely problematic.

On top of all this, of course, Israel and the USA face a rapidly-nuclearizing Iran.

With a capacity now for Islamofascists to lob heavy artillery, even payloads from missile-launchers, from inside southern Lebanon where the Iranian-funded Hizbullah is entrenched and from a Hamas-run Palestine which has increasing access to heavy armaments smuggled in from Egypt, the possiblity of an Iran/Palestine axis becomes the logical next step toward the annihilation of Israel. - Politicarp