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1697260899[/url]']

1697231674[/url]']
Wasn't Hamas voted in to power by a majority of Palestinians in Gaza during the election in 2006? Elections have consequences, right? 

Hamas took 44% of the vote in 2006, which was a plurality.  The majority of Palestinians preferred someone else, but under the complex system by which seats were awarded, Hamas took 74 of the 135 seats.  Of course, Hamas made sure there was never another election.

Some political scientists warned that Hamas, due to a reign of violence toward opposition candidates the first time around, had an unfair advantage going into that election, but George W. Bush (advised by Condi Rice) refused to intervene to stop the elections.  Few people expected Hamas to win.

The Hamas election of 2006 reminds me of the Nazis in 1932, who got a plurality in the national parliamentary elections after intimating and beating up the opposition.  Do all Germans bear responsibility for all the evils deeds done by the Nazis--who came to power illegitimately--over the next 13 years?  The issue of collective responsibility is fraught, and has generated countless articles and books.  But I think the Palestinian people have a greater call to be separated from Hamas than say the Germans had to be separated from Hitler.  Nevertheless, German civilians ultimately did pay the price for their evil government.

I admit to not recalling the circumstances of the time very well, but can only imagine the outcry if Bush had attempted to intervene to stop the elections. It is not like the US is viewed as a neutral party when it comes to Israel.

We are sort of in a can't win position.  If we had spoken out louder and more insistently regarding the current Israeli government's treatment of the Palestinian's living on the West Bank and maybe, just maybe this might not have happened.  Now we have to decide whether to give their government a full pass and jump in with both feet or stay as uninvolved as possible, which is probably impossible.
Our government needs to understand that this is one area where every time someone speaks on the subject, what they say may well come back and bite them on the ass.  Unfortunately too many politicians speak first and think second.

[GK3]

1697260899[/url]']

1697231674[/url]']
Wasn't Hamas voted in to power by a majority of Palestinians in Gaza during the election in 2006? Elections have consequences, right? 

Hamas took 44% of the vote in 2006, which was a plurality.  The majority of Palestinians preferred someone else, but under the complex system by which seats were awarded, Hamas took 74 of the 135 seats.  Of course, Hamas made sure there was never another election.

Some political scientists warned that Hamas, due to a reign of violence toward opposition candidates the first time around, had an unfair advantage going into that election, but George W. Bush (advised by Condi Rice) refused to intervene to stop the elections.  Few people expected Hamas to win.

The Hamas election of 2006 reminds me of the Nazis in 1932, who got a plurality in the national parliamentary elections after intimating and beating up the opposition.  Do all Germans bear responsibility for all the evils deeds done by the Nazis--who came to power illegitimately--over the next 13 years?  The issue of collective responsibility is fraught, and has generated countless articles and books.  But I think the Palestinian people have a greater call to be separated from Hamas than say the Germans had to be separated from Hitler.  Nevertheless, German civilians ultimately did pay the price for their evil government.

I admit to not recalling the circumstances of the time very well, but can only imagine the outcry if Bush had attempted to intervene to stop the elections. It is not like the US is viewed as a neutral party when it comes to Israel.

We are sort of in a can't win position.  If we had spoken out louder and more insistently regarding the current Israeli government's treatment of the Palestinian's living on the West Bank and maybe, just maybe this might not have happened.  Now we have to decide whether to give their government a full pass and jump in with both feet or stay as uninvolved as possible, which is probably impossible.
Our government needs to understand that this is one area where every time someone speaks on the subject, what they say may well come back and bite them on the ass.  Unfortunately too many politicians speak first and think second.