With its landslide victory in Palestine’s elections, Hamas the ‘terrorists’ has joined the political establishment. The underground resistance must now face the reality of politics. With the majority of the Palestinian voters giving a decisive and impressive mandate to the Islamic Resistance Movement, as Hamas is officially known, the militant group must transform its operations from that of a terrorist group into that of a political entity.

Hamas, which had the courage to send its people to blow themselves up in Israel, must now have more courage to face the world. Their leaders have to be courageous and innovative in their tactics. Who will blame the Israelis for their reaction after the election result? Wounds take time to heal. And what should we expect from Washington? Like the rest of the world, Washington must accept the Palestinian people’s choice, even if having Hamas as political leaders is not to Washington or Israel’s liking. The fact that Hamas at the helm is displeasing to Washington and Tel Aviv is somewhat irrelevant in this case. It was the people’s choice. Instead, they should ask themselves why this is the case. Why is Hamas more popular than Fatah, when Fatah had so much going for it? The answer is simple. The people, the ordinary people, have had enough of Fatah and its administration.

Reports in the international press claim that in the final days of the campaign, the United States spent some $2 million through US aid projects to buy Abu Mazen’s Fatah party some credibility in Palestinian territory. But accusations of corruption and bad administration have left their toll on the Palestinian Authority leaders. The $2 million will be hard to match the investment Hamas has made in the Palestinian people by building health clinics, schools and other social services in the absence of any real state infrastructure in Palestine. It was Hamas who took care of the people’s needs in refugee camps. There is little doubt that the Hamas victory is the worst possible outcome for the Middle East. Affected most by this outcome are of course Israel and the United States, but refusing to recognise the changing realities in the Palestinian Territories will only make matters worse and serve to toughen Hamas’ stance. As hard as it may be for them, both Israel and the United States should invite Hamas to the negotiating table. It will be particularly harder for Israel to negotiate with Hamas. But as Hamas takes over government it will hopefully change. It will have to feel the responsibility of governance and decision making and, just as importantly, can be held accountable for future attacks against Israel. The first interesting political move will be the Palestinian Defence and Security portfolio. Will it be a Hamas Minister? We shall see (at the time of writing no Cabinet had been formed). Israel, too, will have to accept the unavoidable and ignore the fact that Hamas initiated attacks against it. History books will remind us that the region has had its share of deals and handshakes made between former ‘terrorists’ and those who once wished to hang them. The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, despite being the Palestinian Authority President, remained a guerilla fighter to the end. Yet he shook hands with Israel’s Yitsak Rabin on the lawn of the White House and shared a Nobel peace prize with him too. If Hamas, invigorated by its stunning electoral victory, can learn to make the conversion from militancy to join the political process in helping to build the Palestinian Authority and push forward the peace process, it should be encouraged and engaged in dialogue by both the United States and Israel. A peaceful and prosperous Palestinian Authority can only benefit the security of Israel. And there cannot be stability in the region unless there is stability between Israel and Palestine. On its part, Hamas must demonstrate it has matured by renouncing violence and accepting dialogue. If it does not, then each and every Palestinian shall shoulder his responsibility.