(news) Hamas enters parliament election

news.bbc.co.uk
"Hamas has decided to take part in the Palestinian legislative council election this summer. On the basis of sticking to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and protecting the program of resistance as a strategic choice until the occupation is swept away," a Hamas leader, Mohammad Ghazal, told a press conference in the West Bank town of Nablus.

The decision may indicate a transformation in Hamas' political thinking and means the elections will see tough competition between Hamas, a branch of the worldwide pan-Islamic movement the Muslim Brotherhood, and Fatah, the quasi-secular nationalist Palestinian movement founded by the late Palestinian president Yasir Arafat.

Hamas has spent years building up a considerable following. It operates a social programme, like building schools, hospitals and religious institutions, as well a military wing that has been behind many of the suicide bomb attacks against Israelis.


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