What do you think of the call for early elections by the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas?
Hamas has indicated it will not participate in new, early elections, assuming they even take place. If they do, it will likely be a dead heat. Many of the swing voters who swayed the result in Hamas’s favour last January will likely vote independent or not vote at all, based on my interviews and assessments. It is a strategic gamble on the part of Abbas – one that may ultimately fail and steer the nation in a very different direction. Either way, it will not be without more bloodshed. Instead of demanding an end to the unjust international siege of the Palestinian people, Abbas blames the victims of all of this and calls for early elections, and then warms up to Olmert who just turns around and stabs him in the back, declaring a new settlement one week after their meeting. Abbas learns nothing from history and is only solidifying his image as a puppet of the West and Israel. He also ignores the fact that much of the chaos is happening as a direct result of his Fatah militias. Click her
