Jan. 27, 2006, 12:53AM
Europe may halt aid unless Hamas changes
By GREGORY KATZ
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
LONDON - Palestinians looking to Europe for reassurances that vital economic aid would continue despite the lopsided victory of Hamas found few encouraging signs Thursday.
Grim-faced leaders in Europe's major capitals said Hamas, classified by the European Union as a terrorist group, must recognize Israel's right to exist and cease all violence before taking control of the Palestinian government.
Their calls, which echoed those of President Bush, carry extra weight because their nations and the European Union have sent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to the Palestinian Authority, which is near bankruptcy.
Hamas, whose military wing uses terrorist tactics while its social wing distributes food and helps educate Palestinian children, stands at a crossroads, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.
"They have to decide between a path of democracy or a path of violence," he said.
Cabinet ministers in France, Spain, Germany and Italy also called upon Hamas to change course. And Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, complained that the Hamas victory makes an already elusive peace agreement much more difficult to achieve.
The chorus of disapproval suggested that most European leaders are not willing to continue funding the Palestinian government unless Hamas publicly renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel.
Hamas' charter calls for the destruction of Israel. The late Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization had a similar clause but removed it after the Oslo peace accords were signed 12 years ago.
Michael Hudson, director of Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, said the financial support of the European Union has been extremely important to the Palestinians, who have received less aid from the United States.
"It would be a real blow if the Europeans turned it off," Hudson said. "We don't know yet how it will unfold. If I had to guess, I think the aid will continue. I think European opinion is quite different than U.S. opinion, and they might find cutting off the aid to be unwise punishment."
Hudson said Europe's leaders may conclude that to suspend the aid programs would be to "invite" a return to bloodshed by pushing the Palestinians into a financial collapse. Instead, Hudson said, the Europeans may look to any conciliatory statements by Hamas as an indication the group has changed now that it has political power.
Europe's extensive aid program to the Palestinians reflects a generally sympathetic view toward the Palestinian cause.
Some of the money goes directly to the Palestinian Authority, which uses it to pay for basic infrastructure needs including roads, schools, and worker payrolls, and some of it is channelled into humanitarian aid programs designed to ease the suffering of tens of thousands of Palestinians in refugee camps.
European leaders stepped up aid after the Palestinians launched a second intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule four years ago. Money from the European countries has been used on an emergency basis to keep the Palestinian government functioning throughout the prolonged crisis.
The EU funds have also been used to pay for financial and political reforms that were intended to reduce rampant corruption and waste inside the Palestinian Authority. Specific funds have been allocated to help the Palestinians establish a judicial system, a tax system and a more open international trading system.
The funds were also used to help pay for the electoral system that brought Hamas to power on Thursday.
