Post by Rose on Jan 29, 2006 12:52:14 GMT -5
Just some info on current events...
does anyone have birth data for Ismail Hanieh?
TV.ca News Staff
Updated: Fri. Jan. 27 2006 8:50 AM ET
Hamas, the militant Islamic group committed to the destruction of Israel, has won a landslide victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections.
The shock outcome, which prompted the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his cabinet, is likely to throw the Middle East peace process into turmoil.
Israel issued a statement late Thursday saying it will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas members.
"The state of Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian administration if even part of it is an armed terrorist organization calling for the destruction of the state of Israel,'' acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in the statement.
The outcome of the election is the biggest challenge facing Olmert since he took over from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who remains in a coma following a massive stroke on Jan. 4.
Results
According to preliminary results, Hamas won 76 seats whereas the ruling Fatah party garnered just 43, giving Hamas a significant majority in the 132-seat chamber. The voter turnout was 77.7 per cent.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has already accepted Qurei's resignation, will ask Hamas to form the next government.
Abbas was elected president in a separate election last year, and is scheduled to serve a four-year term.
Meanwhile, a defeated Fatah Party has announced it will not join Hamas in government, leaving Abbas as the lone Fatah representative at the top of the government.
World reaction
The situation leaves the Bush administration, which vigorously backed democratic elections, facing a Palestinian government led by what it describes as a terrorist group.
At a news conference at the White House Thursday, President George Bush said the U.S. "will not deal with a Palestinian political party that articulates violence.
"I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country," Bush told reporters.
"I've made it very clear that the U.S. does not support political parties that want to destroy our ally Israel."
However, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, had his own warning for Bush.
"The U.S. can't promote democracy but then reject the results of this democracy." Moussa told reporters Thursday.
Meanwhile, prime minister-designate Stephen Harper suggested Canada will not recognize a Palestinian Hamas government either.
Asked about the issue during his first news conference since winning Monday's election, Harper said he supports Israel.
"For a nation to be truly democratic, that nation must renounce terrorism," he said.
And British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also echoed Bush and Harper's views when he told reporters that "those who participate in democratic elections have to understand that democracy and violence are incompatible."
Next steps
Following Hamas' victory, several steps are likely to take place. Following are some of the possibilities:
• Results from the election will be finalized in about two weeks. In the meantime, participants may challenge results;
• After final results are in, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, begins consultations with factions that are to enter the next parliament, he will then ask a party to form government. That party will have three weeks to form a government and can ask for a two-week extension.
• In March, the new government will be sworn-in for a four year term.
• The Fatah party's Abbas, elected last year to a four-year term, has said he will only step down if his peace efforts with Israel are unsuccessful.
End of the peace process?
Reporting from Jerusalem, CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer said many believe the results "mark an end to the prospect of peace making" in the Middle East.
"Hamas has long claimed that it's committed to the obliteration of the Jewish state and has long rejected the idea of negotiation," she said Thursday.
"It seems like they (the Palestinians) were voting for an anti-corruption party against a Fatah party many associated with corruption," she added.
Violence
As the results began to emerge Thursday, Hamas and Fatah supporters clashed outside the Palestinian parliament building when Hamas supporters attempted to raise the green Hamas flag. Shots were fired in the air and some injuries were reported.
Initial exit polls on Wednesday night had forecast a slight edge for Fatah, with Hamas coming in a strong second.
A senior Fatah member, Saeb Erekat, blamed Israel's refusal to resume peace talks with a Fatah-led government for the party's poor showing.
"Israel has declared us non-partners about four years ago and they were not speaking to our elected president," he told Israel Army Radio Thursday.
"Everybody was blaming Fatah for every mistake in the world. Everybody was tying our hands and our legs and throwing us into the sea. And now I think all these things, including our mistakes in Fatah, led to this result."
First election in a decade
The election Wednesday was the Palestinians' first truly competitive vote, with Hamas contesting a parliamentary vote for the first time.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded polling stations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a vote that would determine how Palestinians wanted to be governed and whether they would pursue negotiations or confrontation with Israel.
Long lines formed at polling stations as 77.7 per cent of 1.3 million eligible voters cast ballots.
Many international observers praised the election process, with Canadian monitoring team member Les Campbell describing it as "extremely well run."
"We characterize this election as very smooth and we certainly think it reflects the democratic will of Palestinians," Campbell told CTV News Thursday. "There was a real sense of civic duty and excitement."
Some 13,500 police officers guarded the 1,008 polling stations to prevent gunmen from disrupting the vote, and there were no reports of major violence during voting.
lmert rules out working with Hamas government
Updated Sun. Jan. 29 2006 8:41 AM ET
Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled out contacts with a Hamas-led Palestinian government until the Islamic group renounces violence, and his defense minister threatened to "liquidate" Hamas militants involved in attacks.
With the latest comments, Israel showed no signs of backing down from the tough line it has taken since Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections last week.
The group, which opposes the existence of Israel and has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, is expected to lead the next Palestinian government, hurting the chances for a peace deal. However, a Hamas-backed Palestinian lawmaker said he believes the group is flexible enough to reach an understanding with Israel.
Also Sunday, about 7,000 Israeli security forces, anticipating violent resistance, were training to dismantle two small West Bank settler outposts later this week, police said. Resistance is expected to be fierce in Amona and among Israeli squatters who took over an abandoned market in the Palestinian city of Hebron.
The operation marks Israel's first evacuation of Jewish settlers since its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in August.
Olmert, addressing the weekly meeting of his Cabinet, said he has received widespread international support for the Israeli position toward Hamas. Officials said Olmert has been in touch with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and leaders from France, Egypt and Jordan.
"We clarified that without a clear abandonment of the path of terror, a recognition of Israel's right to exist in security and peace ... Israel won't have any contact with the Palestinians," Olmert said. "These principles are accepted by the international community. On this issue, I don't intend to make any compromises."
Olmert has not decided whether to accept defense officials' recommendation to stop transferring to the Palestinian government the tens of millions of dollars in taxes and customs it collects monthly from Palestinians, fearing this could cause the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to collapse, officials said.
Israel is slated to transfer the money Wednesday.
President Bush has said hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid will be cut to the cast-strapped Palestinian government unless Hamas abolishes its militant wing and stops calling for Israel's destruction.
Later Sunday, Olmert consulted with his top security advisers. Before the meeting, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was prepared to resume its deadly airstrikes on Hamas targets.
"Those who head terror organizations and continue to engage in terror against the state of Israel will be liquidated," told Channel 2 TV on Saturday night. "Hamas knows better ... what Israel's powers and capabilities are in fighting terror."
During five years of fighting with the Palestinians, Israel killed dozens of Hamas militants in targeted attacks, including the group's founder and spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin. Israel has not assassinated a prominent Hamas member since a cease-fire declaration in February 2005.
Mofaz said the coming weeks would be a "transition period" for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah Party was routed in last week's vote and who must now find a way to work with the Islamic group.
Abbas in the past has called on Hamas to disarm, as required in the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, but never took action against the group.
Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, said Saturday from Syria that the group would not disarm but suggested it could fold the thousands of fighters in its militant wing into a Palestinian army.
"We are ready to unify the weapons of Palestinian factions, with Palestinian consensus, and form an army like any independent state," he said.
Israeli leaders condemned the plan, demanding an end to Hamas violence.
Hamas won 74 out of 132 seats in parliamentary elections Wednesday to Fatah's 45. Abbas has asked Hamas to form a new government, which would put the group in charge of some Palestinian security forces. Other branches of the security services are under Abbas' control.
Officials with Fatah, which dominates the security forces, so far have reacted coolly to suggestions that it form a coalition with the Islamists.
Ziad Abu Amr, an independent lawmaker from Gaza supported by Hamas, said Sunday he believes the gaps between the sides can be bridged. He said Hamas' charter calling for Israel's destruction was outdated, and he suggested the group would accept most existing agreements with Israel and allow Abbas to retain control over key security forces.
"There is a possibility, and all of these things will be easier if there is a national government in which Fatah participates," he said.
Hamas leaders have issued mixed signals since the election, leaving the door open to negotiations and continuation of the "hudna," or cease-fire.
"We are not going to recognize Israel," Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas lawmaker from the Gaza Strip, said in comments published in London's The Sunday Telegraph. "We can reach out to them with a long-term hudna."
Hamas likely will come under heavy domestic and international pressure to moderate its positions and to reach out to the defeated Fatah.
On Saturday, thousands of angry Fatah supporters led by gunmen firing in the air marched in West Bank towns, calling for the resignation of their leaders and threatening to kill Fatah politicians who would join a Hamas government. In recent days, there also have been several gunfights between Hamas members and police, leaving four officers and a Hamas gunman wounded.
From an article written in 2004:
The top leaders of the militant group Hamas following the assassination of its founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Abdel Aziz Rantisi: The 54-year-old pediatrician is considered a hard-liner. He opposes any truce with Israel and rejects compromise with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Rantisi spent seven years in Israeli prisons and was expelled to Lebanon for one year in 1992. He was jailed by the Palestinian Authority for 21 months in the late 1990s. Rantisi escaped an Israeli assassination attempt last June.
Mahmoud Zahar: A Hamas spokesman, the 53-year-old Zahar also is considered a hard-liner. Zahar was Yassin's personal physician. He served as Hamas's liaison with the PLO in the mid-1990s, but now opposes compromise with the Palestinian Authority. Zahar has been imprisoned by Israel and has been jailed repeatedly by the Palestinian Authority.
Ismail Hanieh: A top aide to Yassin, he also was expelled to Lebanon in 1992. Like Rantisi and Zahar, he is a member of Hamas' decision-making political bureau. Hanieh is considered more pragmatic, although and other Hamas leaders all advocate the destruction of Israel. Hanieh is Hamas' go-between with the Palestinian Authority.
Khaled Mashaal: Mashaal, a physics teacher born in the West Bank, oversees Hamas' political bureau from Damascus, Syria. Mashaal, in his late 40s, helped negotiate a truce last summer that temporarily halted Palestinians attacks on Israel. Israel has accused Mashaal of masterminding suicide bombings. In 1997, agents from Israel's Mossad injected him with poison darts in Jordan. He survived after Jordan's King Hussein coerced Israel into sending the antidote. In 1999, Mashaal was expelled from Jordan and moved to Syria.
Moussa Abu Marzook: Abu Marzook, in his early 50s, serves as Mashaal's deputy in the political bureau. The U.S.-educated Abu Marzook, who holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, lived in the United States for 15 years. In 1995, he was detained by U.S. authorities on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. He was expelled to Jordan, and later sent by Jordan to Syria. Like Mashal, Abu Marzook is unlikely to be targeted because of his location.
does anyone have birth data for Ismail Hanieh?
TV.ca News Staff
Updated: Fri. Jan. 27 2006 8:50 AM ET
Hamas, the militant Islamic group committed to the destruction of Israel, has won a landslide victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections.
The shock outcome, which prompted the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his cabinet, is likely to throw the Middle East peace process into turmoil.
Israel issued a statement late Thursday saying it will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas members.
"The state of Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian administration if even part of it is an armed terrorist organization calling for the destruction of the state of Israel,'' acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in the statement.
The outcome of the election is the biggest challenge facing Olmert since he took over from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who remains in a coma following a massive stroke on Jan. 4.
Results
According to preliminary results, Hamas won 76 seats whereas the ruling Fatah party garnered just 43, giving Hamas a significant majority in the 132-seat chamber. The voter turnout was 77.7 per cent.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has already accepted Qurei's resignation, will ask Hamas to form the next government.
Abbas was elected president in a separate election last year, and is scheduled to serve a four-year term.
Meanwhile, a defeated Fatah Party has announced it will not join Hamas in government, leaving Abbas as the lone Fatah representative at the top of the government.
World reaction
The situation leaves the Bush administration, which vigorously backed democratic elections, facing a Palestinian government led by what it describes as a terrorist group.
At a news conference at the White House Thursday, President George Bush said the U.S. "will not deal with a Palestinian political party that articulates violence.
"I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country," Bush told reporters.
"I've made it very clear that the U.S. does not support political parties that want to destroy our ally Israel."
However, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, had his own warning for Bush.
"The U.S. can't promote democracy but then reject the results of this democracy." Moussa told reporters Thursday.
Meanwhile, prime minister-designate Stephen Harper suggested Canada will not recognize a Palestinian Hamas government either.
Asked about the issue during his first news conference since winning Monday's election, Harper said he supports Israel.
"For a nation to be truly democratic, that nation must renounce terrorism," he said.
And British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also echoed Bush and Harper's views when he told reporters that "those who participate in democratic elections have to understand that democracy and violence are incompatible."
Next steps
Following Hamas' victory, several steps are likely to take place. Following are some of the possibilities:
• Results from the election will be finalized in about two weeks. In the meantime, participants may challenge results;
• After final results are in, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, begins consultations with factions that are to enter the next parliament, he will then ask a party to form government. That party will have three weeks to form a government and can ask for a two-week extension.
• In March, the new government will be sworn-in for a four year term.
• The Fatah party's Abbas, elected last year to a four-year term, has said he will only step down if his peace efforts with Israel are unsuccessful.
End of the peace process?
Reporting from Jerusalem, CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer said many believe the results "mark an end to the prospect of peace making" in the Middle East.
"Hamas has long claimed that it's committed to the obliteration of the Jewish state and has long rejected the idea of negotiation," she said Thursday.
"It seems like they (the Palestinians) were voting for an anti-corruption party against a Fatah party many associated with corruption," she added.
Violence
As the results began to emerge Thursday, Hamas and Fatah supporters clashed outside the Palestinian parliament building when Hamas supporters attempted to raise the green Hamas flag. Shots were fired in the air and some injuries were reported.
Initial exit polls on Wednesday night had forecast a slight edge for Fatah, with Hamas coming in a strong second.
A senior Fatah member, Saeb Erekat, blamed Israel's refusal to resume peace talks with a Fatah-led government for the party's poor showing.
"Israel has declared us non-partners about four years ago and they were not speaking to our elected president," he told Israel Army Radio Thursday.
"Everybody was blaming Fatah for every mistake in the world. Everybody was tying our hands and our legs and throwing us into the sea. And now I think all these things, including our mistakes in Fatah, led to this result."
First election in a decade
The election Wednesday was the Palestinians' first truly competitive vote, with Hamas contesting a parliamentary vote for the first time.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded polling stations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a vote that would determine how Palestinians wanted to be governed and whether they would pursue negotiations or confrontation with Israel.
Long lines formed at polling stations as 77.7 per cent of 1.3 million eligible voters cast ballots.
Many international observers praised the election process, with Canadian monitoring team member Les Campbell describing it as "extremely well run."
"We characterize this election as very smooth and we certainly think it reflects the democratic will of Palestinians," Campbell told CTV News Thursday. "There was a real sense of civic duty and excitement."
Some 13,500 police officers guarded the 1,008 polling stations to prevent gunmen from disrupting the vote, and there were no reports of major violence during voting.
lmert rules out working with Hamas government
Updated Sun. Jan. 29 2006 8:41 AM ET
Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ruled out contacts with a Hamas-led Palestinian government until the Islamic group renounces violence, and his defense minister threatened to "liquidate" Hamas militants involved in attacks.
With the latest comments, Israel showed no signs of backing down from the tough line it has taken since Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections last week.
The group, which opposes the existence of Israel and has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, is expected to lead the next Palestinian government, hurting the chances for a peace deal. However, a Hamas-backed Palestinian lawmaker said he believes the group is flexible enough to reach an understanding with Israel.
Also Sunday, about 7,000 Israeli security forces, anticipating violent resistance, were training to dismantle two small West Bank settler outposts later this week, police said. Resistance is expected to be fierce in Amona and among Israeli squatters who took over an abandoned market in the Palestinian city of Hebron.
The operation marks Israel's first evacuation of Jewish settlers since its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in August.
Olmert, addressing the weekly meeting of his Cabinet, said he has received widespread international support for the Israeli position toward Hamas. Officials said Olmert has been in touch with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and leaders from France, Egypt and Jordan.
"We clarified that without a clear abandonment of the path of terror, a recognition of Israel's right to exist in security and peace ... Israel won't have any contact with the Palestinians," Olmert said. "These principles are accepted by the international community. On this issue, I don't intend to make any compromises."
Olmert has not decided whether to accept defense officials' recommendation to stop transferring to the Palestinian government the tens of millions of dollars in taxes and customs it collects monthly from Palestinians, fearing this could cause the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to collapse, officials said.
Israel is slated to transfer the money Wednesday.
President Bush has said hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid will be cut to the cast-strapped Palestinian government unless Hamas abolishes its militant wing and stops calling for Israel's destruction.
Later Sunday, Olmert consulted with his top security advisers. Before the meeting, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was prepared to resume its deadly airstrikes on Hamas targets.
"Those who head terror organizations and continue to engage in terror against the state of Israel will be liquidated," told Channel 2 TV on Saturday night. "Hamas knows better ... what Israel's powers and capabilities are in fighting terror."
During five years of fighting with the Palestinians, Israel killed dozens of Hamas militants in targeted attacks, including the group's founder and spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin. Israel has not assassinated a prominent Hamas member since a cease-fire declaration in February 2005.
Mofaz said the coming weeks would be a "transition period" for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah Party was routed in last week's vote and who must now find a way to work with the Islamic group.
Abbas in the past has called on Hamas to disarm, as required in the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, but never took action against the group.
Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, said Saturday from Syria that the group would not disarm but suggested it could fold the thousands of fighters in its militant wing into a Palestinian army.
"We are ready to unify the weapons of Palestinian factions, with Palestinian consensus, and form an army like any independent state," he said.
Israeli leaders condemned the plan, demanding an end to Hamas violence.
Hamas won 74 out of 132 seats in parliamentary elections Wednesday to Fatah's 45. Abbas has asked Hamas to form a new government, which would put the group in charge of some Palestinian security forces. Other branches of the security services are under Abbas' control.
Officials with Fatah, which dominates the security forces, so far have reacted coolly to suggestions that it form a coalition with the Islamists.
Ziad Abu Amr, an independent lawmaker from Gaza supported by Hamas, said Sunday he believes the gaps between the sides can be bridged. He said Hamas' charter calling for Israel's destruction was outdated, and he suggested the group would accept most existing agreements with Israel and allow Abbas to retain control over key security forces.
"There is a possibility, and all of these things will be easier if there is a national government in which Fatah participates," he said.
Hamas leaders have issued mixed signals since the election, leaving the door open to negotiations and continuation of the "hudna," or cease-fire.
"We are not going to recognize Israel," Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas lawmaker from the Gaza Strip, said in comments published in London's The Sunday Telegraph. "We can reach out to them with a long-term hudna."
Hamas likely will come under heavy domestic and international pressure to moderate its positions and to reach out to the defeated Fatah.
On Saturday, thousands of angry Fatah supporters led by gunmen firing in the air marched in West Bank towns, calling for the resignation of their leaders and threatening to kill Fatah politicians who would join a Hamas government. In recent days, there also have been several gunfights between Hamas members and police, leaving four officers and a Hamas gunman wounded.
From an article written in 2004:
The top leaders of the militant group Hamas following the assassination of its founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Abdel Aziz Rantisi: The 54-year-old pediatrician is considered a hard-liner. He opposes any truce with Israel and rejects compromise with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Rantisi spent seven years in Israeli prisons and was expelled to Lebanon for one year in 1992. He was jailed by the Palestinian Authority for 21 months in the late 1990s. Rantisi escaped an Israeli assassination attempt last June.
Mahmoud Zahar: A Hamas spokesman, the 53-year-old Zahar also is considered a hard-liner. Zahar was Yassin's personal physician. He served as Hamas's liaison with the PLO in the mid-1990s, but now opposes compromise with the Palestinian Authority. Zahar has been imprisoned by Israel and has been jailed repeatedly by the Palestinian Authority.
Ismail Hanieh: A top aide to Yassin, he also was expelled to Lebanon in 1992. Like Rantisi and Zahar, he is a member of Hamas' decision-making political bureau. Hanieh is considered more pragmatic, although and other Hamas leaders all advocate the destruction of Israel. Hanieh is Hamas' go-between with the Palestinian Authority.
Khaled Mashaal: Mashaal, a physics teacher born in the West Bank, oversees Hamas' political bureau from Damascus, Syria. Mashaal, in his late 40s, helped negotiate a truce last summer that temporarily halted Palestinians attacks on Israel. Israel has accused Mashaal of masterminding suicide bombings. In 1997, agents from Israel's Mossad injected him with poison darts in Jordan. He survived after Jordan's King Hussein coerced Israel into sending the antidote. In 1999, Mashaal was expelled from Jordan and moved to Syria.
Moussa Abu Marzook: Abu Marzook, in his early 50s, serves as Mashaal's deputy in the political bureau. The U.S.-educated Abu Marzook, who holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, lived in the United States for 15 years. In 1995, he was detained by U.S. authorities on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. He was expelled to Jordan, and later sent by Jordan to Syria. Like Mashal, Abu Marzook is unlikely to be targeted because of his location.
?!!!)