Even amid growing chaos in the Middle East, President George W. Bush loves to boast that his policies are bringing democracy to the region.

True, certified elections have taken place in occupied Iraq and occupied Palestine. But the U.S. has become a laughingstock because it rejects the results of the democratic election in Palestine, where Hamas won.

The joke is, "Be careful what you wish for."

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice again was surprised at the Hamas victory, saying, "Nobody saw it coming." Well, that's because the Bush administration has long ignored the plight of the Palestinians, who have endured a suffocating occupation.

The U.S. had designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its widely condemned suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.

In fact, the Israelis and the U.S. may find themselves longing for the late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, who signed peace treaties with them and made many concessions in the pursuit of peace.

The leaders of Hamas now have legitimacy, but they need acceptance. They also need to show good faith. For starters, they should continue their year-long truce in their militancy against Israel

The Hamas victory sent Israelis and Americans back to the drawing board, mainly to figure out how they can block aid to the Palestinians but still pretend that they uphold free elections in a region dominated by monarchies and dictatorships.

Israel has stopped the flow of funds to the Palestinian Authority, even though that money was collected from Palestinian taxes and other fees.

The U.S. is continuing some humanitarian aid distributed through non-governmental organizations and the United Nations, lest it be accused of starving the Palestinians financially.

Over the years, Palestinians have seen their land systematically taken for Israeli settlements. Americans who observe the U.S. tacit endorsement of such usurpation can only despair.

But the last straw for the Palestinians is the two-year-old, 114-mile wall that Israel built. This barrier cuts the Palestinians off from the main roads to Jerusalem, severing their neighborhoods and blocking 60,000 to 80,000 people from commuting to their jobs.

The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled two years ago that the Israelis should tear down the wall and compensate those Palestinians who were harmed during construction.

The court -- which voted 14 to 1, with the U.S. as the sole dissenter -- urged that negotiations begin "as soon as possible" for a separate Palestinian state.

The international court ruling is not binding, and Israel could ignore it, just as it has scores of previous U.N. resolutions condemning its actions.

Meanwhile, with the acquiescence of the U.S., Israel has bolstered its large settlements on the West Bank.

The unresolved Arab-Israeli clash has been a festering sore for decades. It is the root cause of the hostility of much of the Middle East toward the U.S.

The obvious solution is two states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side by side in peace.

Israel's military power can sustain it for a time, but at some point it has to get along in the neighborhood.

Hamas has to renounce its belligerence while seeking negotiations with Israel. Muhammad Nazzal, a senior Hamas leader, conceded to Agence France-Presse that "Hamas must change its manners. We know that every well. But what we are saying is that we want a response from the Israelis. If you want Hamas to change its policies, you must also request that the Israelis change their policies."

Bush can start a new round of peacemaking by emulating his hero, Ronald Reagan, and telling the Israelis to tear down that wall, just as Reagan taunted the Soviets to tear down the Berlin Wall in 1987.

(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com).

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