Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei’ and his cabinet (most of which are Fatah) announced their resignation following the January 25th elections. With a voter turnout of 77% preliminary results show Hamas with a substantial victory, taking 76 of the 132 seats, and proving that pollsters were clearly off in their predictions which favored a Fatah majority.

According to the Israeli online news site Ynet, Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahhar continues to say that they will not change their call for the destruction of Israel. He also said, “The issue of weapons is related to the occupation. We will not receive dictations from Bush or anyone else??????? His words are not new, and were always against the Palestinians and their interests.”

The Media Line reports President Bush’s initial response to the election:

In his first reaction to the Palestinian elections, U.S. President George W. Bush told the Wall Street Journal that he would not negotiate with Hamas until the terror group renounces its desire to destroy Israel. Bush added that, “a political party must support peace, and must act peacefully.”

Hear audio of U.S. Embassy response here.

Under the founding leadership of Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, Hamas, The Islamic Resistance Movement, believes the land of Palestine (Israel) is “consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day,” and any talk of moderation by Hamas quickly fades by their continual harsh rhetoric towards Israel.

Hamas is famous for its ‘Da’awa’ (proselytizing) activities, which includes social services such as medical care and education. They also make use of the internet as Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations do, and three years ago they started an online children’s site, Al-Fateh (The Conqueror) which encourages methods of fighting ‘their enemy.’

An excellent resource is the documentary “The New Barbarians, Training Children to Kill.” (A must see)

While Newsweek and other mainstream media outlets report on, what I see as an ignorant and unrealistice optimism that Hamas will change (turn from violence) now that they are in the government, the news of a Hamas victory rocked the World Economic Forum taking place in Switzerland todday. There were varied reactions, such as by Miller, a public policy scholar with the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars who said, “I see no way, given the circumstances that exist on the ground, that Israel and the Palestinians can negotiate a conflict-ending agreement anytime soon.” Pollster James Zogby, who is also President of the Washington-based Arab-American Institute said the vote was a reflection of the failure of the long-dominant Fatah party to provide Palestinians with jobs and personal security, much less peace. He urged Western nations not to withdraw aid from the Palestinian Authority suggesting “extremism will only be fed” and urged Mahmoud Abbas not to resign.

Conservatives both in Israel and the United States, however, are writing a different perspective, Such as Founder and President of the Family Research Council and former Presidential candidate, Gary Bauer, who says the Hamas win should be a wake-up call both in Israel and Washington D.C. “Faced with a choice, the Palestinian voters picked the most ardent and committed Jew-killers and America-haters. Now well-meaning and decent men in Israel, the United States and Europe must start answering questions too long ignored. Why should the free world push for a Palestinian state when it has been made clear, yet again, that it will be a terrorist state? Why should the U.S. and Europe continue to send millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to such a corrupt regime? On what basis can anyone in Israel or the U.S. still argue that the answer to Hamas???????? success is to give away more precious land and force more Jews out of their homes, while putting Israel at greater and greater risk?”

Anyone who understands what’s really happening in the Middle East knows a Hamas win is BAD for Israel, and dare I say, what’s bad for Israel is also bad for America.

More related Audio/Video here.