As Hamas makes further gains on the ground, doors may be opening before its rehabilitation internationally, Khaled Amayreh, in the West Bank, reports With Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority (PA), beset by seemingly unending internal crises, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic resistance group, is preoccupied with the upcoming Palestinian elections and the prospect of joining the PA as well as the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Hamas is working on two fronts: at home, furthering its agenda and gaining additional ground, especially among ordinary, less- politicised sectors; and abroad, for the purpose of rehabilitating its regional and international image. Hamas has generally abided by the de facto ceasefire with Israel, demonstrating that the movement's military wing, the Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades, is answerable to the political leadership. Moreover, Hamas has swallowed its indignation vis-à-vis Fatah after the latter succeeded in revoking local election results in Rafah and an additional Gaza district where Hamas had won overwhelmingly. Meanwhile, the movement is quietly choosing candidates and allies for the legislative elections. A new development in this regard has been Hamas's decision to include Christian candidates on its ticket in areas where there is a concentration of Christian Palestinians, such as in Bethlehem and Ramallah. The decision, announced by Hamas leaders in the West Bank this week, is likely to have a positive impact on Hamas's image: now the resistance group can be portrayed as a mainstream, non-sectarian Palestinian nationalist movement transcending religious affiliations. This is not wholly new, for although there are virtually no non-Muslim members in Hamas, there has always been a semblance of mutual respect between the movement and the Palestinian Christian community. This mutual respect is also a practical political necessity as much as it is a moral and social imperative, emanating from many of centuries of harmony and largely amicable co- existence. In the last round of municipal elections in Bethlehem, the main Christian centre in Palestine, saw Hamas candidates sweep the Muslim vote in the city while Christian candidates affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) swept the Christian slates. Hamas senior spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Zahar, alluded to the need for "cooperation with those who differ with us in religion and ideology," saying Hamas's would-be MPs in the upcoming Palestinian legislature would cooperate with everybody for achieving "social justice" in every field and "in the fight against corruption, oppression and misgovernment". "We shall present a comprehensive programme of reform to replace the rampancy of favouritism, nepotism, cronyism and other forms of corruption," he said during a speech at the Ezzeddin Al-Qassam's mosque at the Nusseirat Refugee camp south of Gaza city on Monday 27 June. Zahar also sought to refute accusations, especially by the Islamic Jihad group, that Hamas was "giving in to the temptation of power at the expense of the resistance". He argued that the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was a direct result of the resistance, vowing to continue the fight for freedom and self-determination. Hamas's relations with its junior sister Islamic Jihad have been "problematic and uneasy" of late, mainly due to political differences in their respective political outlooks. Unlike Hamas, Islamic Jihad decided to boycott the Palestinian legislative elections and has been less than enthusiastic about the ceasefire with Israel. Islamic Jihad, some sources within Hamas said, has been trying unsuccessfully to push Hamas to break away from the ceasefire, thus contributing to bad chemistry between the two groups. According to Gaza journalist, Ghazi Hamed, Islamic Jihad does not, and cannot, pose a serious challenge to Hamas. Hamed, editor-in-chief of the Islamist weekly, Al-Risala, opined that Islamic Jihad's popularity in Gaza and the West Bank doesn't exceed three per cent. He also added that Islamic Jihad lacked the wide social and religious infrastructure at Hamas's disposal, making it difficult for the group to compete with Hamas. Meanwhile, Hamas this week confirmed that American representatives, albeit in an unofficial capacity, have been talking to the movement, despite statements to the contrary by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Hamas's leaders and representatives revealed that several European and American representatives held "exploratory talks" with movement officials both in the occupied territories and in some Arab capitals. Earlier, American officials indicated that the Bush administration was examining the possibility of opening a dialogue with moderate Palestinian Islamic leaders who have not been "involved in terror". Israel, which has never foreclosed dialogue with Hamas -- although talks occur mainly through backdoor channels -- is strongly opposed to the "rehabilitation" of Hamas. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom this week warned European officials against removing Hamas from the list of terrorist groups, saying such a step wouldn't serve the cause of peace in the Middle East.
