HAMAS TO IMPOSE ISLAMIC LAW IN WEST BANK AND GAZA

THE STERN FACE OF THE NEW PALESTINE (Globe and Mail)

JERUSALEM -- The incoming Hamas government will move quickly to make Islamic sharia "a source" of law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and will overhaul the Palestinian education system to separate boys and girls and introduce a more Islamic curriculum, a senior official in the movement said yesterday... Mr. Abu Teir, who was No. 2 on the Hamas list of candidates for Wednesday’s election, said introducing sharia — a controversial moral and legal code based on the Koran — would be the first act of the new Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council. “The No. 1 thing we will do is take sharia as a source for legislation. Sharia has a soul in it and is good for all occasions,” Mr. Abu Teir said in an interview with The Globe and Mail over a lunch of traditional Palestinian dishes supplemented with Coca-Cola. ....He made it clear that one way Hamas planned to encourage the next generation to follow sharia was to revamp the Palestinian education system, separating girls’ and boys’ classes and introducing a more Islamic curriculum.