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Hamas
Won’t Back “Any” Presidential Hopeful
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“It
seems as if Sharon has got the election firmly under his thumb and that
the Israeli occupation is the decisive factor,” said Nazzal.
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By
Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Correspondent
CAIRO,
December 22 (IslamOnline.net) – Hamas said Wednesday, December 22,
it will neither support any of the Palestinian presidential hopefuls
nor name a candidate, arguing that the upcoming election has been
“tailored” for Fatah’s front-runner Mahmmoud Abbas.
“Running
in the election or supporting independent candidates would give
legitimacy to the election,” member of Hamas’s politburo, Mohammad
Nazzal, told IslamOnline.net over the phone.
He
said the situation now is getting more absurd, given the chaotic
political landscape and the influence of the Israeli occupation.
“If
this political chaos persists, Hamas will unfortunately boycott any
elections in the future whether legislative or municipal.”
Following
a series of political maneuvers, Hamas decided earlier in the month to
boycott the January 9 vote, considering it as “illegal.”
In
November, the movement said it
was likely to run in the
presidential election by nominating or supporting a candidate if it
was in the interest of the Palestinian people.
The
movement’s longstanding position, however, is the insistence on
holding general elections across the occupied Palestinian territories,
encompassing presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections.
It
had further argued that the 1993 Oslo autonomy accords can no longer
serve as a springboard for the election because Israel had failed to
comply with its terms and conditions.
“Tailored
for Abbas”
Nazzal
further said that the election has been “tailored for Abbas,” the
chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive
Committee.
He
said it will be a complete waste of time to run in the election,
because the results are known in advance and highly influenced by
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
“It
seems as if Sharon has got the election firmly under his thumb and
that the Israeli occupation is the decisive factor,” said Nazzal.
Abbas
is virtually the election’s front-runner, especially after popular
jailed Fatah leader in the West Bank, Marwan Barghouthi, had
dramatically withdrawn his candidacy.
Eight
candidates are now vying for the post after both Barghouthi and Abdel
Sattar Qassem have quit the race.
Unabated
Resistance
Quizzed
on the movement’s stance on resistance, Nazzal said it will go
non-stop as long as Israel continues to occupy the Palestinian
territories.
“There
is no indication on the horizon that Israel will change and opt for
peace, especially after the there infamous NOs of Sharon ‘No to the
return of Palestinian refugees, No to the pullback to the pre-1967
borders and No to separating Al-Quds into two capitals’, a position
which has been endorsed by the US president,” he explained.
Palestinians
vehemently rejected Sharon’s “vision of peace” on December 17,
as he adamantly dismissed any Israeli return to the pre-1967 borders
or allowing Palestinian refugees back to their homeland.
Nazzal
said the key political role played by Hamas will remain the
“umbrella” for the resistance.
On
the disarmament of resistance and Abbas’s call for demilitarizing
it, Nazzal said Abbas is fully aware of the fact all Palestinians have
taken up arms to resist the Israeli occupations.
“Weapons
are not exclusive for a certain faction or movement. Self-defense is
now part of the Palestinian culture,” he said.
“Demilitarizing
the resistance means throwing in the towel at a time when Israeli
warplanes keep on bombarding the Palestinians, destroying their homes
and killing innocent people.”
Nazzal
said Hamas unshakably believe that only resistance is capable of
dictating the terms of a much-anticipated Israeli withdrawal from the
occupied territories.
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