Hamas made a plea today for continued funding of the Palestinian government it now heads by Western nations, but refused to reconsider its stand on the destruction of Israel:

A Hamas leader asked the international community on Monday not to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority, insisting the money would go toward helping the Palestinian people and Hamas was willing to have its spending monitored. ...

He spoke ahead of Monday's meeting of the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, the
European Union, the United Nations and Russia — to discuss the repercussions of Hamas' election victory. The United States and European nations have said they will cut off aid to a Hamas-led government unless the group recognizes Israel, renounces violence and adheres to interim peace deals with Israel. ...

Haniyeh urged the West to reconsider cutting off aid, saying it must recognize the result of the Palestinian election. He also said the money would be spent to help the Palestinian people in their daily lives and that Hamas was willing to discuss means of keeping the spending transparent.

Unfortunately for Haniyeh, cutting off aid comes from a recognition of the Palestinian election, not a rejection of it. The Palestinians made their choice at the polls -- and we accept the results as a measure of the desire of the electorate. It does not mean that we will send our money into the hands of bloodthirsty terrorists, no matter how many votes they get from the Palestinians. That result should have been obvious to those who voted for a Hamas victory in last week's elections. Instead, the voters made their choice, and now they have to live with the consequences of that choice.

It won't matter where the money goes. We will not support a Hamas-led anything, let alone a government that wants to build its army out of its terrorist ranks. If they go broke for lack of international aid, then perhaps they will rethink their choices in the next election, if Hamas allows for another election after seizing power. (It took Fatah 10 years to hold a second parliamentary election.) The US won't bolster Hamas' credibility by sending cash, at least not while it still openly calls for the destruction of Israel.

Elections have consequences, as I noted in another context. Part of those consequences is a clear understanding of what the Palestinians want as a people. They voted for the radical terrorists, and more importantly, never bothered to form a separate political party based on peaceful coexistence with Israel. They left themselves a choice between Fatah and Hamas. Had they been serious about peace, the voters would have formed a third party based on that goal and overwhelmingly supported it.

Now they want our money after handing the reins to Hamas. No, thank you.

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Tracked on January 30, 2006 2:40 PM