Hamas-Fatah Deal Exposes the West's Fantasy of Palestinian Moderation
by Lee Smith, Tabletmag.com---
With Osama Bin Laden now in the bag, a triumphant President Barack Obama will be searching for new promises to keep—like clinching the comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace treaty that he promised the world during his first two years in office.
And since any lasting peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians must include Hamas, it is no wonder that the White House seemed untroubled by the recent announcement of a pact between Fatah and Hamas, whose leadership greeted Bin Laden’s death with proclamations that the al-Qaida boss was a “martyr” and a “holy warrior.”
Some in the White House are letting it be known [1] that the administration believes the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation may be even a good thing for U.S. strategic interests.
Presumably, when Benjamin Netanyahu gets to Washington next week, the Hamas-Fatah deal is going to be at the top of his talking points.
Even those in the pro-Israel camp who were pushing the prime minister to make concessions to the Palestinians recognize [2] that this new partnership jeopardizes the entire peace process.
All the money and prestige the United States and European Union have poured into the Palestinian issue has come to this: The carefully tended moderate camp has merged with the extremists. Of course, some will argue that the deal is a sign of Hamas’ weakness and that Fatah will help moderate the Islamic Resistance movement that rules Gaza. In other words, Palestinian unification is all about exposing the Palestinians’ true colors. If you’re a peace-process pessimist, it shows Fatah’s latent extremism; if you’re an optimist, it will make clear Hamas’ pragmatism.
Elliot Abrams,Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations said: "The agreement between Fatah and Hamas marks the end of a long period of cooperation and negotiation between Israelis and Palestinians.
"In choosing to enter a coalition with Hamas, Abbas is abandoning all the advances made to date and abandoning his own former approach. Cooperation with Israel to improve life in the West Bank and security cooperation against terrorism have now been jettisoned in favor of the appearance of unity.
" All of Abbas’s past statements about Hamas as his enemy, Fatah’s enemy, and the PA’s enemy have been put aside in an embrace of Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader. Under the agreement, elections will be held for the PA presidency and parliament, and for the PLO bodies, in one year, and security forces are to be put under one umbrella....
"We do no favor to any Palestinian who really seeks peace, democracy, and independence if we pull our punches when a murderous terrorist group maneuvers to gain power in—and then take power over—all the Palestinian territories."
God says: "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes." ... "The LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. ... Rejoice O nations, with is people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengence on his enemiew
Taken fromThe Jerusalem Connection.
