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Hamas Will Not Give Up Violence After Winning Elections

Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 1/31/2006

After winning victory in the Palestinian election, Hamas web sites and supporters still call for the extinction of Israel. "It is jihad to victory or martyrdom." While many pundits in the Western media are predicting that Hamas will abandon violence for diplomacy following its surprise victory in the Palestinian election, Internet "chatter" predicts a very different story.

Hamas-affiliated web sites continue to display messages which include statements like this. "We will continue fighting Zionists until either the last drop of our blood or the end of Zionist occupation. It is Jihad to Victory or Martyrdom."

Another posting reads in part, "Finally, the enemy should prepare for a long battle where, 'God-willing,' they will pay a heavy price. The Zionists settlers and soldiers will not rest or feel secure on our occupied land till the full restoration of Palestinian rights."

A Hamas supporter on a Yahoo-sponsored radical Islamic chat group wrote (sic), "Hamas is now the head of state in Palestine, and it was by the mandate of the Palestinians that it holds that position. If the UN, EU, US and the vermin ‘israel' don't like it, then it is just too bad. The fact remains that Hamas now has the mandate of the Palestinians, and they are the ones with whom the world will have to deal with regardless of their like or dislike."

A statement on a web site read in part, "The military wing of Hamas movement in Palestine is calling upon you to donate with what you can to assist the cause of Jihad and resistance until the occupation is eliminated and every span of the Muslim Palestine is liberated."

Hamas affiliated web sites are propaganda tools designed both to intimidate and communicate. The avowed and ominous aim of Hamas remains the same; to destroy Israel. Such an attempt could lead to World War III, and the end of the world as we know it.