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Toward a Quartet Position on Hamas: European Rules on Banning Political Parties

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Makovsky and Elizabeth Young - It will be interesting to see whether the EU supports the same restrictions on Hamas that European states place on extremist parties at home. Were it to follow the European practice, the EU would require the PA to enact eligibility rules requiring Hamas (and any other party wishing to participate in the January ballot) to disarm, disband militias, forswear violence, and end all forms of incitement to violence. A party running on a platform calling for Israel's destruction by its very nature is an advocate of violence. Furthermore, any party that could use force of arms as political leverage is a threat to the entire democratic process.
2005-09-15 00:00:00
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