Q-C Palestinian, Jewish residents react to Hamas election

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By Thomas Geyer | Monday, January 30, 2006 | No comments posted

Palestinian and Jewish residents of the Quad-Cities admitted they were not prepared for the election results this week that gave Hamas a clear majority in the Palestinian parliament and may have radically altered politics there.

“I was shocked,” said Palestinian native John Dabeet, an economics professor at Muscatine Community College. “I was expecting Hamas to win about one-third of the seats. I don’t know what went wrong.”

Hamas, which both Israel and the United States describe as a militant group whose sole goal is the destruction of Israel, captured 76 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Parliament, unseating the long-ruling Fatah Party, whose most notable member was Yasser Arafat, the late president of the Palestinian Authority and head of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

“I’m not pleased with the result,” Dabeet said. “But this is what the people wanted. It’s democracy at work. More than half the people voted for Hamas and we have to respect that.”

What happens to the Middle East peace process at this point is anyone’s guess, Dabeet said.

“Hopefully we’ll move ahead,” he said. “But Israel will never negotiate with a government run by Hamas. Maybe, though, this will transform Hamas from a military to a political faction. I don’t think they can act the same way now that they’re involved in the government.”

Palestinian native Jamal Tayh, a chemistry professor at Scott Community College, called Hamas’ victory “unbelievable.”

“Fatah had been in power for a long time and they made things worse year after year,” he said. “It was the corruption that was the big thing.

“We wanted democracy in the Middle East,” Tayh said. “Sometimes under democracy you get something you don’t like. You can’t go back and say you don’t want to accept the results.”

Shira Karp, 25, of Davenport, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said in an e-mail to the Quad-City Times that “I can’t begin to tell you how much this scares me.

“I can only hope, however naively, that they (Hamas) will be transformed by their new responsibilities and be led away from their terrorist roots because I really don’t want to have to give up my master’s in the middle and go home.”

She said it would have been better if Israel’s elections had been held this week and the Palestinian elections in March. With the Israeli government having to regroup in the wake of Ariel Sharon’s stroke and power being turned over acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Hamas will have time to solidify its government before Israel’s government stabilizes, she said.

That gives Hamas “terrifying opportunities, which I do not put past Hamas to take full advantage of,” she said.

Allan Ross, executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad-Cities, said, “The peace process, at least temporarily, is dead in the water and will be until the Israeli elections on March 28.”

“I don’t think Hamas is going to do anything tremendously provocative in the near term. They will be consolidating their power.”

And if the West cuts off money to the Palestinians, Hamas will be able to get it from Iran and Syria, so cash will not be a problem, he added.

“The world is now a more dangerous place, especially the Jewish world,” Ross said.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.