Matthew Clark:

Will Hamas and Islamic Jihad — the two largest and most influential Palestinian militant groups — ever trade the bullet for the ballot? The prospect is not likely to happen soon, but recent signs indicate that both groups are seriously considering moves to parlay their street credibility into democratic legitimacy.

As July 17 legislative elections approach, the groups no longer seem to want to remain outside of the mainstream Palestinian political process, as they have traditionally. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), now led by Mahmoud Abbas, is the only internationally recognised legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who advocate the destruction of Israel, have refused to join the PLO, largely because it removed an anti-Israel clause from its charter.

Hamas decided a few weeks ago that it would run in the July elections. It boycotted the last elections in 1996. Islamic Jihad head Mohammed al-Hindi attended a PLO executive committee meeting in Gaza Tuesday. As the Israeli daily Ha’aretz points out, this marks “the first time that a religious Islamic group has participated in a meeting of the PLO’s highest decision-making body.”

The website of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth cites a Wednesday report from the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Quds that Abbas “has reached a historic understanding to incorporate Hamas into the PLO in exchange for relinquishing Hamas’ vision of liberating the whole of Palestine.” According to the report, Fatah will relinquish its monopoly on government and political influence, while Hamas has recognised the PLO as the only legitimate Palestinian organisation.

In addition, Hamas has agreed in principle to a series of far-reaching concessions, primarily acceptance of the PLO’s current political platform, which is based on the founding of a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders. Verification of the report would mean the movement has abandoned its primary demand — the liberation of Greater Palestine. Hamas has also agreed to forfeit its demand for half the seats in the council, in exchange for the number of seats it would win in the elections.

The stark reality on the ground is that Islamist factions enjoy popular support among the Palestinian people. But Islam or Islamist parties needn’t be synonymous with violence. While it is true that these factions have waged a war against a brutal occupying force, this war is not the be all and end all of their existence. These movements represent the dynamism of human nature, and as a result, they can evolve. Now that the world is showing a more serious commitment to the peace process, it is the equivalent of a national duty for the Palestinian parties to forge an agreement among the factions. The time is ripe for reconciliation and peace and the Palestinians must capitalise on America’s open door.

While Washington hails advances for democracy in the Middle East, two of the chief beneficiaries are Hizbullah and Hamas, hard-line foes of US Mideast policy. But while some in

US are uneasy about conferring legitimacy on groups the US has long condemned as terrorist organisations, others believe the political integration of militant Islamists may help stem

the violence. — The Christian Science Monitor