Lo and Behold

Last night, I posted the following entry:

UPDATE:
Fatah looks like they've still got a majority - winning 58 of the seats. Hamas got 53. Hamas is a force to be reckoned with. President Bush said that the US would not deal with Hamas, no matter how well they did in the election. It will be interesting to see just how that works out with Hamas likely to get some key positions in the future makeup of the Palestinian Authority.

Well, those earlier reports couldn't be more hopelessly wrong. Hamas didn't just become a force to be reckoned with, it looks like it became the majority party in the Palestinian Authority.

They took a majority of seats, and forced Fatah to the sidelines. I wish I could say good riddance, but the Palestinians have gone from bad to worse with this move. And I don't think even Hamas will know what to do now. With great power comes great responsibility, but knowing the way Palestinians have been given opportunities in the past, have very very low expectations.

Some, like Ron Kuby on 77WABC talk radio think that this actually improves the situation because politicizing their dispute with Israel means more talk and less bombs. He argued that by becoming the party in power in a government, they'll be less likely to blow up Israelis because it could set the stage for Israel's full military reprisal against the Palestinians. Kuby claims that Hamas chose not to bomb Israel over the past year and that this is a positive development. Hamas engaged in a hudna and concentrated on winning this election so that they can be in a position to call the shots on who gets to destroy Israel faster.

Yet, the fact remains that Fatah, who was in charge, sent numerous suicide bombings, launched repeated missile attacks against Israelis, and generally condoned continuing terrorist attacks against Israel. That is to say, the party in charge had no problem continuing with terrorism despite the fact that they had a state to run. And Israel was handcuffed by the US, the EU and world opinion from defending itself. Note that the world came down hard against the Israelis for building a security fence against terrorist infiltrators. Now imagine what it would be like if Israel had started bombing Palestinian terrorist targets (beyond the occasional targeted attacks against major terrorist leaders like Rantisi) - including leadership meetings and other military targets. The outcry wouldn't stop.

Meanwhile, Hamas is getting ready to kick Fatah to the curb, claiming that they may have won up to 70 seats (out of 132).

The New York Times writes:

The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, and his government submitted their resignations Thursday as the radical Islamic faction Hamas appeared to have scored a major upset and defeated the ruling Fatah party in parliamentary elections.

However, no official results were expected until Thursday evening.

Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian politics for decades, was favored in Wednesday's election and exit polls released after the polls closed projected Fatah as the winner by a narrow margin.

But on Thursday morning, Hamas leaders claimed their own count showed that the group was winning an outright majority in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council. Sixty-seven seats are needed for a majority, and Ismail Haniya, a senior Hamas leader, said the group expected to at least 70.

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission had not released any results as of Thursday afternoon, but said preliminary figures would be announced in the evening.

Fatah did not formally concede defeat, but in announcing his resignation, Mr. Qurei, seemed to indicate a Hamas victory was likely.

So far, all we've got is posturing by Hamas, resignations by Fatah, but no official vote count. So why did the early reports get things so hopelessly wrong? The media went on the exit polls, not the actual count (sound familiar?):

The exit polls on Wednesday night, like the pre-election surveys, showed Fatah winning by several percentage points.

All the exit polls favored Fatah by varying margins, but the outcome was completely different. Go figure. Guess who was behind the exit polls? Maybe this gives a clue to the outcome from one of the polls (by al Najah University). Coincidence? Perhaps.

Pajamas Media has a huge roundup.

But this much is certain, Hamas is going to continue agitating for Israel's destruction regardless of whether they're leading the Palestinians or not. Take that to the bank.

UPDATE:
Captain Ed is on the same wavelength and wonders whether the US and the Europeans will finally wake up and realize that the Palestinian people have decided to overtly state their preferences on peace. They've sided with Hamas, which seeks Israel's destruction as their ultimate goal. From this, there is no wavering.

UPDATE:
Clashes erupting between Hamas and Fatah in Ramallah.

The two camps threw stones at each other, breaking windows in the building, as Fatah supporters briefly tried to lower the green Hamas banners. The crowd of about 3,000 Hamas backers cheered and whistled as activists on the roof of the parliament raised the Hamas banner again.

It was the first confrontation between Hamas and Fatah since the Islamic militant group won parliamentary elections on Wednesday.

And I think it wont be the last.

UPDATE:
According to nearly complete election returns, Hamas won 76 seats - a landslide result.

Hamas won 76 seats in the 132-member parliament, while Fatah, which controlled Palestinian politics for four decades, won 43 seats, said Hanna Nasser, head of the Central Election commission. The 13 remaining seats went to several smaller parties and independents.

The result was based on a count of 95 percent of the vote and still could change slightly, Nasser said.

Give or take a seat, Hamas will be able to form a government without needing Fatah to form a coalition government. Fatah has been kicked to the curb. Decisively.

UPDATE:
The Jawa Report has come up with some comforting news. Hamas: No Soup for You!

Hamas has won the Palestinian elections today, and that's definitely going to be upsetting to more than a few people. After all, this is a terrorist group. But, this is also a terrorist group on the current list of designated terrorist groups maintained by the US. US law prohibits providing material support or equipment for foreign terrorist organization.

So, if the US provides any kind of aid or support for the Palestinian Authority, they would be providing that aid in direct violation of federal law. Keep this in mind when the usual suspects come crying about not being fair to the Palestinians.

UPDATE:
Others blogging the Hamas election victory and its repercussions: Swap Blog, Six Meat Buffet, Discarded Lies, Atlas Shrugs, Weapons of Mass Destruction, All Things Beautiful.

Technorati: hamas, terrorists, palestinian authority, hamas, fatah, israel.