GP started off with something from 2004! Glad we are making progress with timelines here, if nothing else.
Speaking of 2023 statements, the ruling party in Israel democratically elected for 2 decades now, have made it abundantly clear that they'll continue to thwart any attempts at 2SS (https://archive.is/34Sg0) because 'security of the only democracy in the Middle East is at stake'. Apartheid? Yes, for security. Siege? Aiwa, security. Bombing Syria and Iran? Also, security. I'd like to smoke what they are in Knesset to be this drunk on conflict and war. And for the majority to continue to vote them in, because 'security', is telling. The result is, Kahanists are now elected ministers; but God forbid Pals elect 'terrorists'...
> Hamas backed out of the agreement and ended up submitting candidates to run
> Your article's claim that it was due to "heavy pressure" from the United States and Israel is unsourced
Abu Mazen is a puppet. No reason to believe he cancelled the elections despite ALL other factions (some 25+) wanting one. He most certainly can't do so without the support of whoever funds his little fiefdom. It is a forgone conclusion, as people say.
> Hamas was running and any pretense that they would step aside was gone.
I mean, you state that there hasn't been an actual statement (see below) but also claim it is all a ruse all in the space of 3 paragraphs...
The full minutes of the talks were published in an official Emirati document. In essence, the message of the Hamas leadership was clear: "If you in Fatah are convinced that you can get a state from Israel along the 1967 lines through negotiations, go for it. We will not interfere."
That is not a statement from Hamas, it is the author editorializing minutes from a meeting. The Wikipedia article that I linked shows the actual list of candidates and parties, which include Hamas, as well as sources for them and opinion polls showing Hamas was likely going to win the election. These are just the facts. Feel free to look at the official candidate lists and opinion polls if you disagree. Hamas was running and the opinion piece you posted is incorrect — they were not going to sit out the election.
Here is the direct quote from Wikipedia, since you're claiming it doesn't say Hamas was running:
The March 31 midnight deadline for submissions of electoral lists saw 36 lists officially presented,[69] including:
Fatah, led by Mahmoud Aloul[70]
Freedom, headed by Nasser al-Qudwa and Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of Marwan Barghouti[71]
Hamas (running as "Jerusalem is Our Promise"), led by Khalil al-Hayya[70]
...
I am not sure why you keep arguing unsourced claims — to the point of claiming that Abbas did not cancel elections, when every source points out that he did, and Hamas themselves say he did and called it a coup by Fatah.
Posting random quotes from Netanyahu that do not reference the 2021 election does not back up your claim that Hamas was willing to sit out the election. I don't like Netanyahu either, but that doesn't mean that somehow Hamas wasn't trying to stay in power.
Hamas (running as "Jerusalem is Our Promise"), led by Khalil al-Hayya[70]
Hamas was in the running in 2021 via proxy (may be because the Western governments labelled it a terrorist group?), driven by their political aspirations as opposed to their military ones: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210324-hamas-is-building...
> I am not sure why you keep arguing unsourced claims — to the point of claiming that Abbas did not cancel elections
I never claim anything of the sort. Abu Mazen did cancel the elections.
> opinion polls showing Hamas was likely going to win the election
As before, actual Kahanists winning elections is a-okay... but Hamas or its proxies winning democratically scare the hell because... 'security'? The 972mag article specifically calls out that the cancellation of the elections by Abu Mazen as the catalyst for al-Qassam, Hamas' armed wing, to (perhaps foolishly) take matter into their own hands.
> That is not a quote from Hamas, it
What about the direct quotes by Likudniks calling for ethnic cleansing (https://twitter.com/MairavZ/status/1739364199367618871) or more repression? Why do direct quotes from Hamas matter when an official Emirati document points out Hamas were okay with PA leading a political solution towards 2SS (and it is PA that has nothing to show for it 5 years since then).
Just so it is clear, I think Hamas are better relegated to the dustbins of history. They hinder more than they help.
Hamas was in the running in 2021 via proxy (may be because the Western governments labelled it a terrorist group?), driven by their political aspirations as opposed to their military ones: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210324-hamas-is-building...
Literally nowhere does it say that Hamas was only running "via proxy" in the article you linked. Hamas was running in the election as "Jerusalem is our Promise," as noted by Wikipedia and every single major news outlet that covered the election at the time. Just as in the 2006 election (which they won), where they ran using the name "Change and Reform." [1] The name of the list is just how they market their campaign slogan to voters, it doesn't mean they're not running or that it's a "proxy" that is different than them — and it certainly does not mean they're sitting out the election which was your claim. And that is why every major news outlet reported Hamas running in 2021, just as they did in 2006, and why you are continually unable to find sources saying they didn't run and are posting random articles that don't back up your claims.
And again, bringing up random Likudniks does not refute the undeniable fact that Hamas did actually submit to run in the 2021 election, just as they did in 2006.
Why does an official Emirati document...
You have not linked to an official Emirati document. You have linked to an opinion piece editorializing unsourced Emirati minutes supposedly from a meeting between Fatah and Hamas, that supposedly show a proposal for Hamas not to run in elections — a proposal that in reality was never enacted and an election that Hamas did run in. There are a zillion sources that show Hamas did run in the election and you have been unable to show anything saying that they didn't, and keep posting random right-wing Israeli statements as if that somehow proves Hamas didn't run.
> and it certainly does not mean they're sitting out the election which was your claim.
That was 972mag's claim as a precondition for Hamas to enter PLO post elections (which didn't happen).
1. In 2014, per UAE, Hamas stepped aside to let PA reach a political solution on 1967 borders. PA had nothing to show for that.
2. In 2021, 35 parties alongside Hamas (via proxy or not) favoured elections in WB, E Jerusalem, and Gaza. PA called it off.
In both those cases, doubt it was all Abu Mazen on his own, without the backing of the Knesset.
> And again, bringing up random Likudniks does not refute...
Two things:
1. You seem to place emphasis on direct quotes from Hamas but dismiss direct quotes from Likudniks (that prove they're no supporters of 2SS, which is why they may have pushed Abu Mazen to prevent elections).
2. Random? That's the longest serving Israeli Prime Minister.
Anywho, it seems we both agree on what happened (sabotage of the peace process) just not what led to it (right-wing Israeli rulers).
GP started off with something from 2004! Glad we are making progress with timelines here, if nothing else.
Speaking of 2023 statements, the ruling party in Israel democratically elected for 2 decades now, have made it abundantly clear that they'll continue to thwart any attempts at 2SS (https://archive.is/34Sg0) because 'security of the only democracy in the Middle East is at stake'. Apartheid? Yes, for security. Siege? Aiwa, security. Bombing Syria and Iran? Also, security. I'd like to smoke what they are in Knesset to be this drunk on conflict and war. And for the majority to continue to vote them in, because 'security', is telling. The result is, Kahanists are now elected ministers; but God forbid Pals elect 'terrorists'...
> Hamas backed out of the agreement and ended up submitting candidates to run
I don't see a single mention of Hamas in the 2021 roster: https://www.elections.ps/tabid/1163/language/ar-PS/Default.a... The Wikipedia page you linked to merely points out a former Hamas leader was running under a new party.
> Your article's claim that it was due to "heavy pressure" from the United States and Israel is unsourced
Abu Mazen is a puppet. No reason to believe he cancelled the elections despite ALL other factions (some 25+) wanting one. He most certainly can't do so without the support of whoever funds his little fiefdom. It is a forgone conclusion, as people say.
> Hamas was running and any pretense that they would step aside was gone.
I mean, you state that there hasn't been an actual statement (see below) but also claim it is all a ruse all in the space of 3 paragraphs...