Movement in Palestine
By Sean Aqui | Related entries in NewsYesterday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas reached a deal with Hamas for a unity government, in which the Hamas government would resign and be replaced by a mixture of Hamas and Fatah representatives, as well as representatives from various splinter groups.
Most important from the Palestinian viewpoint was the prospect that such a move would mean a resumption of the aid it relies on to pay its bills, aid that was suspended following Hamas’ ascent to power. That hope appears to have been fulfilled, as the EU said it would consider resuming aid.
More important to the rest of us, however, is that as part of the agreement Hamas gave Abbas full authority to resume peace negotiations with Israel.
It remains to be seen whether all this talk will result in actual change on the ground. “Peace negotiations” are not the same thing as “peace agreement”, and it’s an open question whether the more militant Palestinian groups — or even the military wing of Hamas — will accept and abide by any such deal. Expect at least a couple of attacks aimed at disrupting the talks if they appear likely to bear fruit.
But Hamas sanctioning negotiations with Israel is a pretty big step. It appears that in this case the economic embargo worked, forcing Hamas to choose between militant purity and seeing to the needs of the Palestinian people. To their credit, they have (at least for now) chosen the latter.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 13th, 2006 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 13th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Considering the cultural/religious backgrounds, it seems impossible that peace will ever happen between Israel and Palestine. One values truth whether it makes someone look bad or not. The other values honor so that truth lies victim to saving face. In light of this dynamic, Palestinians don’t believe a thing they themselves say, much less Israel. It is more important for them to not be disgraced in any way, whether they have disgraced themselves or not. How then can progress be made?
September 14th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Peace is not possible between the two groups and never will be. It’s important to look at what exactly Hamas said to and to not forget the lessons of the past when Arafat would say one thing in English to appease and another in Arabic to enflame.
September 14th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
It’s a positive step, seeing Hamas forced to act more politically. Sure, it may all fall apart, but this is a step in the right direction. It will be nice while it lasts.