Ohh, now they wanna play?

Remember how Hamas boycotted the palestinian elections, out of principle and not because they were gonna Lose or anything? Well, it seems that this boycott that was based on principle didn't last long when it came to elections that they could win: The Palestinian radical Islamist movement Hamas was celebrating on Friday a landslide victory over the previously dominant Fatah faction in the first local elections held in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of its supporters converged on the Gaza City offices of the Palestinian parliament for a celebratory rally as final results from the 118 seats up for grabs were announced by local government minister Jamal Shobaki. While Shobaki only announced the names rather than party affiliation of the winners, official sources said that Hamas had won 77 of the seats against 26 for the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The rest went to independents and minor parties. And now, it's time to enter spin alley regarding this victory, you ready? Hamas had campaigned on a strong anti-corruption ticket, amid widespread disillusionment among voters about the incompetence and cronyism that has characterized many councils. Abbas has vowed a crackdown on corruption and to implement sweeping reforms of the Palestinian institutions but the results in Gaza appear to indicate that voters do not trust the establishment party to put its own house in order. Zahar said that the results were a damning indictment of the levels of institutional corruption. "This result shows the desire of the Palestinian people for change and reform," he said. "The strong popular support for Hamas will give us a chance to end the administrative and financial corruption." "Not to mention, encourage a lot of you to go kill yourselves to advance our political ambitions! Huh, this mic is on? Freakin Zionists!" Ohh..the strong popular support you say? While voting did not take place in any of the major population centers such as Gaza City and the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, the elections were seen as a first major test of Hamas' electoral strength. Isn't that something?