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No Talks With Hamas Unless It Accepts Israel: Bush
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"It's a wake-up call to the leadership. Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo," said Bush.
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WASHINGTON,
January 27, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In the
first US reaction to Hamas stunning election victory, President George
W. Bush said the United States will not deal with Hamas unless the
group "renounces violence and its calls for Israel's
destruction" as the resistance group urged the international
community to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian
lands.
"I
have made it very clear, however, that a political party that
articulates the destruction of Israel as part of a platform is a party
with which we will not deal," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted
Bush as saying.
Hamas
won 76 seats in the 133-seat Palestinian Legislative Council, nearly
57.6 percent of the seats up for grabs.
On
Thursday, January 27. Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled
out any talks with a government involving Hamas.
But
a recent Israeli poll showed that almost half of Israelis think Israel
should talk to a Palestinian government led by Hamas.
The
poll in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, which was conducted
before the Palestinian election results were announced, showed 48
percent of Israelis favored talking to a Hamas-led Palestinian
government, while 43 percent were opposed.
Wake-up
Call
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"It's
for the international community to put strong pressure on Israel to
restore our rights and end all the occupation," Haniya said.
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Bush
told a White House news conference on Thursday that the group's
stunning electoral win reflected widespread dissatisfaction with the
previous Palestinian government rather than a desire to wipe out
Israel.
"It's
a wake-up call to the leadership. Obviously, people were not happy
with the status quo. And so the elections should open the eyes of the
old guard there in the Palestinian territories.
"The
people are demanding honest government. The people want services. They
want to be able to raise their children in an environment in which
they can get a decent education and they can find health care,"
he said.
The
US President said he would like the incumbent Palestinian leader
Mahmud Abbas to remain in office.
"Contradiction"
The
Quartet, the Mideast peace mediators, and Europe have also stepped up
pressures on the Palestinian resistance group to accept Israel.
Without
naming Hamas, the Quartet reiterated the view "that there is a
fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities
and the building of a democratic state."
"A
two-state solution to the conflict requires all participants in the
democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's
right to exist, and disarm, as outlined in the roadmap," the
quartet said in a statement Thursday.
The
statement came following talks between US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU
external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner to discuss the
ramifications of Hamas' win.
The
European Union, on its part, said it is ready to support a new
Palestinian government committed to peace.
"It
is now up to (Palestinian leader Mahmud) Abbas and the PLC
(Palestinian Legislative Council) to appoint a government that agrees
to end violence and find a solution to the Middle East conflict, then
we stand ready to support it," said Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang
Schuessel, whose country holds the EU presidency.
The
25-nation bloc said it "reiterates its position that there is no
place in a political process for groups or individuals who advocate
violence."
Occupation
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"Hamas should be given a chance," said Erdogan.
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Meanwhile,
Hamas called on the international community to pressure Israel to end
its occupation of the Palestinian lands.
"The
main problem is the Zionist (Israeli) occupation and continuing
aggression against our people," senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya
said in the first comments following the group's election victory.
"The
first step is not for Hamas," he said when asked what the group's
first step would be.
"It's
for the international community to put strong pressure on Israel to
restore our rights and end all the occupation."
"The
United States and the European Union must put pressure on the
occupation and not on the Palestinian people. We want equality,
security and freedom for all the Palestinian people, but this cannot
come without the end of the occupation on our land."
Haniya,
who headed Hamas's Change and Reform list in Wednesday's Palestinian
elections, said the resistance group will work in two ways.
"The
first way is resistance and self-defense, the second is national
dialogue in the Palestinian territories... our fighting is only with
the Zionist enemy."
"We
will continue our dialogue with all brotherly factions in the
Palestinian territories. Outside pressure is always against the
Palestinian people not against the occupation and America's position
is the same," he said.
Chance
Regional
heavyweight Turkey said the international community should give Hamas
the chance to show it may change.
"Hamas
should be given a chance," said Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
"Its
way should not be blocked by prejudice. Its future attitudes may
launch a process different from what it has been so far," Erdogan
was quoted as saying late Thursday in Davos, Switzerland.
Erdogan's
Islamist Justice and Development Party had also raised doubts in the
international community when it came to power in 2002 in Turkey, a
strictly secular pro-Western Muslim nation.
The
party, however, has made impressive social and economic strides, and
embraced Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
Turkey
has been Israel's main regional ally since 1996 when the two struck a
military cooperation deal.
But
it also has close ties with the Palestinians and supports their claim
to statehood, and has often offered to help peace efforts in the
Middle East.
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