campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East, much as it is trying to do in Iraq. The elections can also be regarded as another step in the U.S. Hamas’ success in winning free elections is, indeed, a landmark event and took place within a political culture quite unique in the Arab region-a Palestinian culture marked by highly developed public opinion, pluralism, and a sense of democracy. The bank’s step indicates the effectiveness of global counterterrorism efforts but is also noteworthy because it was taken against a movement that won the only free democratic elections in the Arab world in years. This act clearly resulted from several lawsuits being filed against the bank in the United States-lawsuits claiming that the bank supported terrorism by channeling financial aid to families of Palestinian terrorists, most of whom were Hamas members. One of the most significant signs of Arab reservations about Hamas came in the important field of finance when the influential Palestinian-Jordanian Arab Bank Plc., the largest private bank in the Arab world, closed its branches in the PA. It is hampered by a financial crisis, the opposition by Fatah elements, an Israeli and partial international boycott, and the wariness of Arab governments who fear the implications of this victory in their own states.

These challenges still exist nine months after the electoral victory, and the Hamas government still has difficulty fulfilling its daily functions. Moreover, because Hamas itself was unprepared to handle such an overwhelming victory, it faced significant challenges in composing a Palestinian government without the support of any significant partners. The questions concern Hamas’ future policy, the next developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Palestinian Authority’s very existence and ability to function. Hamas’ surprising victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections of January 2006, the first democratic elections to date, has raised a number of questions-questions that are particularly compelling because of the movement’s impressive rate of success and its apparently unstoppable rise to power.

List of salafi scholars