JERUSALEM, 19 December 2005 — The European Union joined the US House of Representatives yesterday in threatening to curb aid to the Palestinian Authority if the militant group Hamas wins next month’s parliamentary election.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said during a visit to the region that the European Union — the main donor to the Palestinian Authority — could not support any party that advocated violence and did not recognize Israel.
Hamas is sworn to destroying the Jewish state and has led a suicide bombing campaign.
Solana said in Israel that if Hamas won the parliamentary election, it would be “very difficult that the help and the money that goes to the Palestinian Authority will continue to flow”. Solana also visited the Gaza Strip.
EU aid is vital for the Palestinian Authority, which was allocated more than $340 million for 2005.
Hamas’s chances in the Jan. 25 ballot look to have strengthened dramatically because of a split in President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah party. Hamas swept local polls in West Bank cities last week.
The issue of Hamas participation has underlined the dilemma facing Western countries that advocate free elections in the Middle East but also worry that victory will go to groups — such as Hamas — that they brand as terrorists.
The faction has won growing support from Palestinians who see it as less tainted by corruption than Fatah and also benefit from its charity network.
In May, US President George W. Bush promised Abbas that the United States would donate $50 million in its first direct aid to his government.
But the US House of Representatives passed a resolution on Friday urging the exclusion of Hamas from the parliamentary ballot. It said Hamas participation could undermine the ability of the United States to provide assistance.
Israel has welcomed the foreign criticism of Hamas over the election. Israeli officials say that if Hamas wins, it would spell an end to peacemaking.
But Palestinian political analyst Ali Jarbawi said that the United States and EU stands would probably help Hamas.
“People look at the US position and immediately think the best position is the reverse,” he said. “You can’t ask people to become democratic and force them to vote for someone and not someone else.”
