Violence, Elections, and Party Politics by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415705653
Goodreads: 17842089
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Hamas’s Electoral Success and Prospects for Peace and Democratization

After Hamas’s victory in the 2006 legislative elections, the movement became central to the question of democratization in the region. Some thought the results might be an opportunity for moderating Hamas as it was now accountable for governance issues.96 Even within Hamas, some were open to the potential for negotiation with Israel; however, others continued to advocate military resistance as the only way to fight Israel’s ongoing occupation.97 However, this speculation came to naught with the international boycott of the Hamas-led government led by the U.S. and Israel and Fatah’s refusal of Hamas’s invitation to join the government.98 Not only were Hamas parliamentarians arrested by Israel, but the U.S. provided political and military assistance to President Abbas and his Fatah party and encouraged calls for new elections.99 The economic and political stranglehold put on Hamas led one official to ask, “So which language should Hamas use, the language of negotiation or the language of jihad? I’m trying to speak the language of negotiation, but what am I gaining?”100

Repeated efforts to build national unity, such as the May 2006 Prisoner’s document and the February 2007 Mecca Agreement, were actively discredited by the U.S. and Israel, and simmering tensions between Fatah and Hamas eventually led to armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of two rival Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Thereafter, Hamas turned to violence again. The three-week military confrontation between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip that began December 27, 2008, was seen by many as a Hamas “victory” due to Israel’s failure to eradicate the movement despite its use of overwhelming force. It also strengthened the radical section within Hamas, which argued that Israel only understands the language of violence. Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, in place since 2007 (with Egypt’s cooperation), has strengthened, not weakened, Hamas as it controls the income generated from bringing in necessary goods through the tunnels which are Gaza’s only life support in light of the blockade.101

At the time of publication, the prognosis for increased democratization through regularly-scheduled elections in Palestine is unclear. Although Fatah leader Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is beloved by the international community (he has held positions at the IMF and World Bank), he is unelected and has little popular support.102 Furthermore, President Mahmoud Abbas has been ruling by presidential decree since January 2010 when his term expired, and there has been no legislature since June 2007.103 Because of this lack of government legitimacy, Hamas called for a boycott of the municipal elections scheduled for July 2010. This boycott became a moot point, however, since the Fatah party cancelled the elections because, as in 2006, Fatah was divided and could not determine a suitable list of candidates.104 After failed talks in November 2010, a positive step was taken in the form of a secret deal between Fatah and Hamas, brokered by the caretaker Egyptian government in April 2011 in Cairo.105 Yet, we can only

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