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EU Says Talking With Hamas, Israel Fumes
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“These
meetings followed changes in the Palestinian territories, especially
after Hamas won the last local elections,” Abu Zuhri (R) said.
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GAZA,
June 16, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The European
Union revealed Thursday, June 16, it had been in contacts with the
Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas, bringing in protests
from Israel.
The
declaration, asserted by Hamas, comes as a sharp shift in the
block’s position on the group enlisted on the EU’s “terror”
list.
“We
have had technical diplomatic contacts with Hamas,” an EU official
told Agence France Presse (AFP) on condition on anonymity.
The
EU official stressed that the contacts with Hamas intensified
following the group’s electoral success in municipalities, which are
the recipients of aid projects.
“We
must find a practical solution.”
Hamas
spokesman, Mushir Al-Masri, confirmed that mayors, elected in the
Palestinian local council polls, had held talks with EU diplomats to
discuss international assistance and the current de facto ceasefire
with Israel.
"Hamas
is open to dialogue with all countries except the Zionist enemy, which
occupies the land and kills our people," Al-Masri said, according
to Reuters.
Hamas
secured a landslide victory over the mainstream Fatah in the
first-ever Gaza Strip council elections in January.
It
also beat Fatah in four out of five major cities in the second stage
of municipal polls last month before court rulings cancelled results
in three main municipalities and ordered a run-off election.
Earlier
this month, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw disclosed that
diplomats from his country had met officials from Hamas' political
wing on two occasions.
Contacts
Sami
Abu Zuhri, another Hamas spokesman, said the meetings between Hamas
and EU diplomats were held in the occupied Palestinian territories and
abroad.
“There
have been several meetings and communication between Hamas and the
European Union on several levels. Some of it has been in Gaza and the
West Bank, but some of it has been outside the Palestinian
territories,” he told AFP.
“These
meetings followed changes in the Palestinian territories, especially
after Hamas won the last local elections.”
“Europe
understands that there can be no order in the Middle East without
Hamas,” he noted.
Mohammed
Ghazal, a senior Hamas representative in the West Bank, said contacts
in the West Bank and Gaza were with lower-level EU diplomats, but the
higher-level contacts between Hamas and the EU were taking place
abroad.
"Every
10 days to two weeks we have at least one meeting with a European
diplomat," he was qouted as saying by the Israeli Haaretz.
“No
Change”
The
EU official, however, denied that the contacts with Hamas represented
a change in the EU stance on classifying the resistance group as a
“terrorist” organization.
“This
doesn’t signify any change in policy toward an organization which is
still included on the European Union’s list of terrorist groups,”
he told AFP.
In
Brussels, EU spokeswoman Elena Peresso said the 25-nation bloc has
reached no collective decision on whether to change its policy toward
Hamas.
Both
the European Union and the United States list Hamas as a terrorist
group, but the recent political clout of the resistance movement has
left the West in a dilemma.
Israeli
daily Ha'aretz had earlier said in an un-sourced report that
the EU decision on holding contacts with Hamas had surprised the US -
a co-sponsor with the EU, Russia and the United Nations of the
Middle East peace road map - and raised Israeli concerns.
US
officials and diplomats told Reuters earlier this month the Bush
administration was showing signs of easing its hard-line stance on
Hamas in response to the group’s political clout and soaring
popularity.
Israel
Protests
Israel,
which rejects any contacts with the resistance group, said Thursday it
has protested increasing EU contacts with Hamas, according to Ha'aretz.
The
Israeli Foreign Ministry said it is pressing EU officials to maintain
their official designation of Hamas as a terrorist group.
"We
believe Europeans should be strengthening moderate Palestinians and
not appeasing the extremists," said Foreign Ministry spokesman
Mark Regev.
"Anything
that demonstrates acceptance of Hamas as a legitimate player is a
problem."
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