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| By Israel Insider staff and partners January 29, 2006 |
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| Banners are seen as Palestinian Hamas supporters gather during a rally celebrating the group's victory. (AP) |
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For some Arabs the Hamas victory was a dream come true, for others a nightmare, for still others a puzzle.
Certainly, the militant Islamic group's overwhelming victory in Palestinian elections was stunning - nearly as stunning for Arabs as it was for Israel and its backers.
Official Arab reaction was muted initially as leaders in Mideast capitals digested the surprise result of Wednesday's Palestinian ballot.
But Arab media resounded with descriptions that termed the overwhelming victory an earthquake or tsunami. Indeed, Hamas swept the governing Fatah party from power with the force of nature, taking 76 of 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Fatah managed to hold only 43.
Under its charter the militant group seeks Israel's destruction. It has opposed Arab-Israeli peace talks, refused to disarm and has carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis.The movement also advocates a conservative political and social program that calls for stricter interpretation of Islamic codes.
In a celebratory news conference from his base in Damascus, Syria, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal obliquely pledged Saturday to continue attacking Israelis.
"Resistance is a legitimate right that we will practice and protect. Our presence in the legislature will strengthen the resistance," Mashaal said. "If people raised the issue of targeting civilians, we said and we say that when our enemy stops targeting civilians we will abide by that."
For its part, Israel has conducted numerous targeted assassinations of Hamas terrorists in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and elsewhere. Mashaal escaped an Israeli attempt on his life in 1997 while in Jordan.
In Cairo, President Hosni Muabark said Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation and the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel, has said he wanted the Palestinians to continue peace efforts with Israel. Since the elections, he has been silent. The Egyptians had hoped the Palestinian vote could be delayed, obviously expecting the strong Hamas showing - if not the overwhelming victory.
King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose country was the second to make peace with the Jewish state, declared the need for continued peace talks.
"I hope the election results will boost unity and order the internal affairs in the territories," the king said, stressing that "the peace process should not stop."
Regardless of concerns among pro-Western Arab governments, Hamas does have avowed supporters in the region.
The strongest came, not surprisingly, from the Muslim Brotherhood which wants all regimes in the Arab world swept aside in favor of fundamentalist Islamic governments.
"This is a vote for the Islamic option to solve the Palestinian issue," said the Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mahdi Akef in a statement.
The group's Web site reminded that the Hamas victory was a victory for it's campaign banner in recent Egyptian elections: "Islam is the solution." The banned but tolerated Brotherhood increased its representation in the People's Assembly sevenfold, making it the only serious opposition to the Mubarak government.
Iran, the non-Arab Middle Eastern nation and the staunchest opponent of peace with Israel, said Tehran "hopes that the powerful presence of Hamas on the scene" will strengthen resistance against Israel.
Many Arab governments, however, may find it embarrassing to do business with a Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority, should the United States and other Western powers not relent in their refusal to deal with the militant organization.
Washington and the European Union regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and demand that it renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist in return for official contacts.
Pro-Western governments such as those in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are concerned the Hamas victory could indefinitely postpone Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and complicate creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel's acting prime minister Ehud Olmert has said peace talks were not possible "with a Palestinian administration if even part of it is an armed terrorist organization calling for the destruction of the state of Israel."
Arab diplomats have said they cannot imagine a continuation of the generous Arab aid to the Palestinians if a Hamas-led government does not renounce violence or accept the Arab strategy for peace with Israel in return for land it has occupied since 1967.
Oil rich Arab countries such Saudi Arabia have given millions of dollars (euros) in aid to the Palestinian Authority to help reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank _ funding that was called into question following Hamas' win.
While the aid might continue under the table, it certainly would not be passed along publicly for fear of angering Washington.
Some experts believed Hamas faces an identity crisis. Samir Ghattas, head of the Cairo-based Al Quds Research Center, said Hamas election's landslide may soon turn into "a quandary." He said that Arab relations with the Palestinians will be strained if the group fails to moderate.
"It is something to be in the opposition and something quite different to be in the government." he told the Associated Press. "Like the PLO before, Hamas has to choose now between the gun or the olive branch.This might be the bitter poison it has to taste," he said.
With peace talks stalled and Israeli elections just weeks away, many Arabs also fear Israelis will also choose a hardline government that will pursue unilateral actions, drawing its own borders and separating itself from the Palestinians.
Other experts feared the victory would embolden Hamas to remake Palestinian life in line with its strict Islamic vision, emboldening other Islamic groups in the region _ a nightmare for countries such as Egypt and Jordan whose secular governments are facing growing challenges groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.
Arab officials told The Associated Press that key governments in the region planned to meet to draw up a coordinated response to Hamas which will need a delicate hand.
With leaders of Fatah saying they will not join a national unity government with Hamas if the militant movement does not change its political program, many Arabs believe the rival groups may be headed toward confrontation.
"That is the worst case scenario Arabs would have to face," one Arab League official told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
A top Hamas leader said Friday that the group's leadership is sending a delegation next week to some Arab countries to try to alleviate their fears. But Moussa Abu Marzouq, a member of Hamas political bureau, suggested no change in strategy was planned. Mashaal confirmed that on Saturday.
"As long as there is an occupation and as long as our rights and those of Arabs and Muslims are usurped we will continue resistance of the occupation," Marzouq told the AP from Damascus.
The AP contributed to this report.
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