The WaPo is back to business as usual, explaining that Hamas has a “political” wing and a “military” wing, but not pointing out that the Hamas charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel (and is chock-full of anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories as well).
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 16 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday that his government will refuse to assist the Palestinian Authority in holding legislative elections in January if the militant group popularly known as Hamas is allowed to participate.
“We will never agree that this terrorist organization, this armed terrorist organization, will participate in the elections,” Sharon told a group of U.S. journalists during a nearly 1 1/2 -hour session, referring to Hamas, which is formally called the Islamic Resistance Movement. He said that if Hamas is allowed to participate, then Israel will not lift roadblocks on the West Bank or take other measures to smooth the way for Palestinian elections.
“I don’t see how they can have elections without our help,” Sharon said. “We will make every effort not to help them in their elections.”
Sharon added that he had no control over voting in Gaza, which Israel vacated last month after 38 years of occupation. He said Israel would tolerate Hamas’s participation only if it gives up its arms and renounces its goal of destroying the Jewish state. “An armed organization doesn’t become democratic once they participate in the election,” Sharon said, calling the Hamas charter “one of most terrible documents that exists.”
Hamas, which has an armed wing and a political wing, has participated in local elections but plans to test its electoral strength for the first time in parliamentary elections. Hamas has claimed credit for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza; tens of thousands of its supporters rallied Friday to celebrate the pullout. Hamas, which provides social services throughout Gaza, is viewed by many Palestinians as less corrupt and more efficient than the Fatah organization of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Nowhere in the article is there a description of what the Hamas charter says. Nowhere in the article does it even have the AP boilerplate, which points out that Hamas is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis in terrorist attacks. But it does state this:
Sharon’s vow, which he has privately repeated to President Bush and other world leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly this week, appears to conflict with the U.S. position that the Palestinian Authority should decide who can participate in its elections.
Shame on you, WaPo. Your readers deserve the truth, not this biased version of it.
There are several sites where you can read the Hamas Covenant, and I recommend them. No one reading this will be astonished to know that Hamas sees Zionism’s program set out in “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Nor will anyone familiar with Hamas be stunned to learn that Hamas specifically rejects conferences and negotiations; jihad is the only way to go. And by “jihad” they don’t mean the internal struggle for self-improvement that some apologists claim is the core meaning of the word.
Nor do they bother distinguishing much between Zionists and Jews. No surprise there, either.
But Article 22 is hilarious, in a grim way. They blame Jews for everything from the French Revolution to the world wars and…I’m not making this up…the Rotary and Lions clubs. I went to a street fair yesterday and the Lions were collecting old eyeglasses. I was tempted to ask the guy at the table how he felt being an agent of world Zionism.