Palestinian's election - Part III

Preliminary results give Hamas 76 of the 132 seats in the chamber, with the ruling Fatah party trailing on 43. The win poses problems for efforts to restart peace talks with Israel, as the Jewish state insists it will not deal with an authority including Hamas, even though Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Fatah party and President of the Palestinian Authority, says he remains committed to a peaceful settlement.

US President George W Bush said the US would not deal with Hamas unless it renounced its call to destroy Israel. Which makes sense... but Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, pointed very well that the US cannot promote democracy and then reject its results.

This is, of course, an entirely new situation, which will need to be carefully analysed. But the results should be respected; I have no doubts about it!

This is the moment of truth, and it concerns everyone: first of all the Palestinians themselves, who have made a choice and now have to meet the results of what they've chosen; Hamas, who has to decide between a path of democracy or a path of violence; Israel, who has difficult choices to make; the US, the EU, the whole of the international community.

I do hope that everyone is ready to make their part of the needed efforts in order to renounce to violence and agree to move forward according to the peace objectives that have been fixed. Inch'allah!