Hamas Wins Big In Election

Hamas has gained 73 seats and Fatah, the group in current control of the Palestinian Authority since it was founded, won only 43 seats. 13 seats were divided among the third parties that ran also in this past election.

Fatah was expected to win about 40-45% of the vote by most projections with Hamas gaining about 30-35% of the vote. But this gives Hamas almost 58% of the vote with 73 out of the total 132 seat legislature.

Bush told reporters that, "I have made it very clear, however, that a political party that articulates the destruction of Israel as part of its platform is a party with which we will not deal."

This clip of Bush's speech has been played over the radio non-stop and leads us to assume that Bush will refuse to talk to any elected Hamas members. With Hamas getting the PM position along with all of the cabinet seats, it will be very hard for Bush and the EU to deal with the roadmap-to-peace without talking to the elected Hamas officials. The Palestinian people elected Hamas to represent them and they will push for international recognition, while Israel will most likely call for that same group of the international community to condemn and refuse to talk to the elected officials of Hamas. The next few weeks and months will show how the western world will approach this area of the world for many years to come. Whatever the choice, it should not be taken lightly.