David Brooks, in today's New York Times (sub. req'd), writes:
If the Europeans refuse to isolate Hamas, if they forgive radicalism, they will destroy this budding cycle of accountability. They will reward the old revolutionary mentality. They will stop the momentum that makes this the most promising moment as well as the most dangerous. For this is the moment when a truly democratic movement might emerge, opposing both Hamas and the old Fatah.
That didn't take long. From Sunday's Scotsman:
EU nations urged to accept Hamas European governments have been urged to take the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas off an international blacklist as a sign of faith in the new democratically-elected political force in the Middle East. The leader of the European Union's election-monitoring team which oversaw the vote last Wednesday, Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, said the gesture should come at talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. The meeting is the first opportunity for Europe to express a collective, considered response to an unexpected outcome which has left the EU and America struggling for an appropriate reaction. "The European Union is right to demand the renunciation by Hamas of violence, and to demand that Hamas recognise Israel" said Mr McMillan-Scott. "But Europe also has to note that Hamas has stuck to a ceasefire since February 2005, and that it is now an elected political, Islamist force in the Middle-East, even if it is one which comes from a terrorist background." He went on: "Hamas is a terrorist organisation, but now it should come off the blacklist - especially considering that it is on the list and Hezbollah is not." EU foreign ministers are facing the tricky job of finding a formal response to the Palestinian election which acknowledges the democratic will of the people to back the largest Palestinian militant Islamist organisation - one with a deadly record of murder and suicide bombings. The decision to stand in the Palestinian elections reflected a dramatic new approach - and the scale of the resulting victory poses a diplomatic dilemma in national European capitals and in Brussels. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has already warned of "an entirely new situation" requiring close EU analysis. And Prime Minister Tony Blair has challenged Hamas to choose "a path of democracy or a path of violence."