Friday, January 27, 2006
Hamas Headache
The big issue in the world right now concerns the victory in the Palestinian elections by Hamas, the radical Islamic militant group.Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled out any talks with "an armed terror organisation that calls for Israel's destruction".
Near-complete results gave Hamas 76 of the 132 seats in parliament.
The Middle East "Quartet" - the US, UN, EU and Russia - issued a statement later on Thursday, calling on Hamas to renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist.
The group will hold talks in London on Monday to decide what to do after the victory.
US President George W Bush said Washington would not deal with Hamas unless it rejected its call to destroy Israel.
I am quite concerned about these developments. It's not my place to question the outcome of a democratic election but I do not like the idea of terrorists being endorsed.
I haven't discussed the Israel/Palestine situation much here on United Irelander, primarily because I have little interest in the issue.
What I will say is that I think the two sides are a long way away from peace and unlike the situation here in Ireland, I question whether these two sides genuinely do want to have peace as they seem too gripped by hate and revenge to contemplate a compromise.
The Israel/Palestine situation brings home to me that things in Ireland are a hell of alot better than we think and while we may differ on this island about what is best for the future politically, thankfully we all seem to share the same concensus that whatever the future holds, peace must be a part of it.
I hope the situation in the Middle-East can one day find a peaceful solution that satisfies the people but I do not know where this will come from, or who indeed will be responsible for it.
# posted by United Irelander @ 9:50 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
