In a letter to President
George
W. Bush, seventy members of the Senate
strongly condemned the possible participation of
Hamas and other armed
terrorist groups in the upcoming
Palestinian legislative elections. The letter asks for
Bush to make clear the position of the United
States regarding terrorist groups, stating
that if Hamas and other armed groups are
allowed to participate and field candidates,
then the US “would have little choice but to reevaluate
all aspects of our relations with the Palestinian Authority.”
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing you out of deep concern
over the upcoming Palestinian legislative elections
and the question of terrorist groups such as Hamas participating
in these elections. As you stated just a few months
ago in discussing Hamas' participation: “You cannot
have a democracy based upon a rule of law if you have
armed bands of people who will use their weapons to
try to achieve a political outcome.” We agree completely.
Nevertheless, we are concerned that Hamas will be able
to field candidates for the upcoming elections without
disarming and without committing to an agreed set of
basic principles concerning violence and democratic
values.
We are deeply disappointed that President
Abbas has yet to do what the Palestinian Authority has
committed to doing on numerous occassions - asserting
control over the terrorist groups that operate freely
within the West
Bank and Gaza.
We therefore urge you to press the Palestinian leadership
to use the leverage they now have with these terrorist
groups to insist that they adhere to a basic set of
principles before they can run for political
office. No democracy in the world allows a political
party to bear its own arms; Palestinian democracy should
be no different. If such principles are not established
now, it will be much more difficult to do later. Futhermore,
if terrorist groups gain a substantial foothold in the
Palestinian legislature, it will make it exceedingly
difficult, if not impossible, for there to be any progress
on the roadmap or on the road to achieving a two state solution.
There would be even more severe policy
implications if any such groups were then brought into
the Palestinian Authority. The United States - and no
doubt other countries as well - would have little choice
but to reevaluate all aspects of our relations with
the Palestinian Authority.
We hope it never gets to that point.
We look forward to working with you over the next few
months to make clear to Palestinian leaders that terrorist
groups must either disarm or be barred from the political
process.