GAZA CITY, 31 March 2006 — The new Hamas Cabinet faced a fusillade of broadside of threats from the West even as ministers took over the reins of power in Palestine. The first day in office for the Hamas ministers was marred by Western boycott announcements, but the party was defiant as they accused the West of failing to respect democracy yesterday.
The Middle East quartet said that the West would slash its funding if the Hamas-led government does not change its policy with regard to Israel. The Middle East quartet issued a statement, “That future assistance to any new government would be reviewed by donors against that government’s commitment” to nonviolence, recognizing Israel and accepting previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“The quartet concurred that there inevitably will be an effect on direct assistance to that government and its ministries,” it added.
Finance Minister Omar Abdelrazeq accused the quartet of ignoring the results of January’s elections after the group warned of dire consequences for Palestinian monetary aid if Hamas does not change its tune.
Before the quartet (the EU, Russia, the UN and the US) issued its statement, Canada had also sparked Palestinian anger by becoming the first Western nation to formally freeze all its aid. Abdelrazeq criticized the quartet for eschewing dialogue and instead issuing what he called “threats through the media.”
“That surprises us that the Western societies are refusing the results of a democratic process that all observers agreed went on in a good manner,” he told AFP. But he said he was not worried about the finances of his administration as it had alternative sources of funding.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Hamas was well aware of its economic and political responsibilities, but he counseled patience. “Hamas knows it is now responsible. It is the government responsible for the wellbeing of the Palestinian people... economically and politically. Therefore it knows well what is required of it but let us wait a bit.”
New Information Minister Yussef Rizqa accused Washington of “double standard” and “blatantly siding with Israel” regardless of the Jewish state’s occupation of Palestinian land.
Rizqa was among the ministers who began their first day in office yesterday. Interior Minister Said Siam remained silent during a handover ceremony with his predecessor, Nasr Yussef, who said security forces would remain under the authority of Abbas. “Until he says otherwise,” Yussef told reporters besides Siam.
Yet despite the international pressure, exiled Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal said his movement would continue to lead its armed struggle against Israel. “We have no other choice but to link power with resistance. Resistance is a strategic choice,” he said at a conference in Beirut.
Abbas, meanwhile, urged Acting Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert yesterday to cooperate with him in order to achieve a negotiated settlement of the Middle East conflict. Two days after the election victory of Olmert’s Kadima party, Abbas telephoned Olmert from South Africa to congratulate him. The Kadima party won Israel’s general election with 29 seats, one more than initially tallied.
— Additional input from agencies.
