Hamas likely to ‘soften its line’

THE Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections could mean progress rather than an impasse, former Jordanian crown prince, Hasan bin Talal has said.
Addressing a session at the US-Islamic World Forum on Sunday, he said he expected Hamas would “soften” its position, saying that the Palestinian elections were “further evidence” that Arabs wanted democracy.
He said the US was facing a difficult choice, as it continues to support dictatorships and subsequently was in danger of losing credibility since people would say that the Americans did not mean what they preached about democracy.
Prince Hasan, chairman of the Arab Intellectual Forum, said that there was no short-term solution to the Islamic movement’s victory but he believed that “radical organisations will become moderate enough, keeping in mind the political realities”.
The peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis and the rebuilding of Iraq should be based on mutual understanding, he said.
The Jordanian prince called on Muslims to discuss matters among themselves before they take up issues with others.
“Muslims have to protest the publication of the cartoon as well as the call by the so-called ‘jehadis’ to kill innocent people.
“The real dividing line is not between Muslims and non-Muslims, but between the extremists and moderate Muslims,” he said.
He said the US suffers from an “image problem” in the Islamic world.
“What is important for people in the Islamic world is to see what the US is doing in the region.”
Talking about the Danish cartoons, Prince Hasan said that they did “enormous damage”, but he believed that some people have misused the anger of the Muslim masses to serve their agendas.
“The issue of the caricatures proved that the industry of hostility is still in good health.
“The main issue was not political but it had unavoidable religious dimensions. A lot of people believed that religion was an unavoidable part of the problem and not the solution.
“In this complicated and ambiguous time, we need to hear the voice of reason to spread rationality. We are now in the middle of unprecedented challenges to traditional religious values,” the prince said.
“The ignominy of the Iraq occupation, Palestine, the humiliations at Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo have been added to the list of social and economic issues that the Islamic world has to deal with,” the prince said.