Despite its continuous calls for installing democratic governments in the Middle East, the Bush administration refused to accept the outcome of the first democratic elections held in the region; Palestine’s elections that were held in Dec. 15.

The Bush administration refuses to budge from its insistence that it will not deal with a Hamas-led government--or provide funding to the new Palestinian Authority, now led by the Palestinian Islamic movement, as long as it refuses to recognize the Jewish States.

And recently, the Israeli government approved plans to impose sanctions on Hamas; freezing the transfer of about $50 million a month in tax and customs receipts due to the Palestinian Authority and restricting the ability of Palestinians to work in Israel as well as the movement of Palestinian goods to Israel.

The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited some of America’s allies in the Middle East apparently to lobby support to Washington’s staunch stance against Hamas. But what the Secretary of States doesn’t expect is the fierce resistance analysts say she’ll face from those allies who reject Washington's campaign to isolate two U.S. adversaries, Hamas and Iran.

Planning to embark on a trip that will include visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Rice will try to lobby those governments’ support to deny aid to a Hamas-led government and exert pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear activities.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both staunch U.S. allies in the Middle East, might oppose Hamas' rejection to return to the negotiations table with Israel but they also fear making apparent their support to the U.S. policies in the Middle East, where America’s blind support for the criminal Israeli policies would draw strong criticism and scrutiny of many Arabs and clouds governments' cooperation with Washington, an editorial published on Reuters website suggests.

"Arabs will turn round and point out the United States gives billions of dollars to Israel," said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"It's just an area where they will have to agree to disagree."

Although Hamas rejected the newly imposed Israeli measures, as it was elected democratically and deserves to be given time to prove itself in government, it is quite aware it needs help.

In case the West cut its aid to the Palestinians, Hamas can still sustain itself with aid money coming from some of the Arab states and wealthy benefactors from the Persian Gulf.

The Palestinian anti-occupation movement Hamas also seeks to gain some international legitimacy through a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to be held in Moscow next month.

Also according to some analysts, a Hamas-led government could try to wean itself off Western aid by slashing the Palestinian Authority's bloated budget.

"Reform could generate substantial savings," says Patrick Clawson, deputy director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Palestinian Authority expenses are ridiculously high for the quality of the services delivered."

In an interview, Rice claimed that providing Hamas with money will be hampering international peace efforts, and ending hopes for an Israeli-Palestinian peace.

But what Rice fails to recognize is that the Arabs view their support for the Palestinians as a major regional cause. Her efforts to persuade governments to support Washington’s campaign aimed at isolating the new PA will be considered hurting their neighbors in the occupied territories.

Source: Aljazeera.com