Hamas leaders Monday welcomed the self-declared victory of Muslim Brotherhood
candidate Mohamed Morsy in the presidential election and expressed hope that he
would change Egypt’s policy toward the Islamist movement.
Shortly after
Morsy appeared on TV to claim victory in the presidential election, hundreds of
Palestinians took to the streets in the Gaza Strip to celebrate his victory,
eyewitnesses reported.
They said that Palestinians distributed sweets and
marched in the streets, carrying large posters of Morsy and chanting slogans in
favor of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood organization.
Palestinians said that
Morsy’s victory was a “gift” to Hamas and a blow to its rivals in the
Palestinian Authority, whose representatives in Ramallah did not comment on the
election.
One PA official, however, said that the Palestinian leadership
would comment only after the final and official results of the vote are
announced.
Morsy’s victory is also seen by Palestinians as a blow to
efforts to achieve reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
In recent
weeks the two parties have been trying to reach an agreement on the formation of
a new Palestinian “national consensus” government under the auspices of the
Egyptian authorities.
Emboldened by Morsy’s election, Hamas will now
adopt a tougher stance in the talks with Fatah to achieve reconciliation,
according to Palestinian political analysts in the West Bank.
“This is
good news for Hamas and bad news for [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah,”
said Ayman Abu Omar, a newspaper columnist from the West Bank. “The fact that
the Muslim Brotherhood has won the election in Egypt will strengthen
Hamas.”
Hamas leaders Musa Abu Marzouk and Ismail Haniyeh were the first
Palestinians to congratulate the Muslim Brotherhood on their victory in the
Egyptian election.
The two men expressed hope that Egypt would support
the Palestinians and reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza
permanently.
They also voiced optimism that Egypt’s policy towards Israel
would change.
Haniyeh hailed the results of the election as a “democratic
wedding” and expressed hope that Egypt would enjoy stability and security under
the new president.
He said the Palestinians were pinning high hopes on
the new leadership in Egypt.
“Israel wanted [secular presidential
candidate] Ahmed Shafik, while Hamas and the rest of the Palestinians wanted
Morsy,” said Bara Sharaf, a columnist affiliated with Hamas. “The Egyptian
people wanted the people in Tel Aviv to be unhappy and the people in the Gaza
Strip to celebrate.”
The Gaza Strip, he added, “has every right to be
happy today after suffering for many years because of [ousted Egyptian
president] Hosni Mubarak’s hostility toward Hamas.”