More reason for Palestinians to drop Hamas

In a previous editorial we said that for the Palestinian people to have a future they must drop Hamas. Here is another reason for that.

While it was considered a symbolic vote, 143 out of the 193 member-states of the United Nations voted that the Palestinian Authority meets the criteria for full membership in the UN during a UN General Assembly. Nine nations voted against it while 25 others abstained during the voting.

The vote "affirms that Palestine meets all the requirements stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations... Thus it deserves, and is qualified to obtain, full membership in the United Nations," the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry said in a statement.

We understand that the vote was symbolic for three reasons; Palestine’s borders aren’t clearly defined as of now, Palestinians are currently at war with another UN member, and also because Hamas is the de facto leader of majority of the Palestinians, and not the Palestinian Authority.

Nevertheless, it showed that many members of the UN are willing to deal with the Palestinian Authority. There was no mention of support for Hamas, probably because it has been considered a terrorist organization.

This is just one more reason for Palestinians to drop Hamas.

Again, we would like to point out that while Hamas is indeed composed of Palestinians, Hamas doesn’t represent all Palestinians.

We are sure not all Palestinians approved of the October 7 terror attack that didn’t just result in Israeli casualties but also backfired on the Palestinian peonplde many times over. We are sure many Palestinians are now cursing the name of Hamas for starting a war where the Palestinians, not Hamas, are paying the bigger price in terms of sacrifices and lives.

Given that symbolic vote, in all likelihood the Palestinian nation can become a member of the UN if the Palestinian Authority becomes the de jure as well the de facto leader of the Palestinian people, and not that terrorist organization.

More than anything else, this show of support from the UN for the Palestinian Authority should goad the Palestinian people into slowly or even quickly divesting themselves of Hamas, whichever works better for them.

In dropping Hamas, the Palestinian people would have little to lose but much to gain.