Years ago, when George W. Bush let Condi Rice talk him into allowing Hamas to run for office in the Palestinian territories, Hamas won a significant number of offices. And so the pundit class and the realists and the anti-Israel left all said, “Hey, Hamas will have to moderate now. They’re going to have to figure out how to get rid of the garbage, so they won’t have time to send in the terrorists.”
They were wrong, and yet, they still held out the hope that Hamas would moderate. At various times in the last few years, pundits, congresspeople, and fairly unknowledgeable bloggers all pointed out that Hamas could really, would really, should really moderate—or at the very least, it would declare a long-term truce with Israel. In fact, the onus was starting to get put on Israel for refusing to negotiation with Hamas. The PLO, they pointed out, was a terrorist group, and yet, Israel negotiated with it. The Irgun was a terrorist group, and it grew up to become Likud (which is fatuous and untrue, but let’s ignore that for now and go with the lies of the left).
And so, now, Hamas and Fatah have their unity deal, which was the last obstacle in the PA’s unilateral push for recognition for the Palestinian state. Recognition, I would point out, without having to fulfill any of their obligations to Israel, such as stopping terror, incitement, and negotiating about borders, Jerusalem, and the “right of return.” That, in a nutshell, is why there is this “unity” agreement. (My prediction: It will unravel fairly quickly.)
But here is the moderation of Hamas. It is a quote I can’t find in any Western press release. So far, it’s only in the Israeli media. It’s from a press conference, so there’s no excuse for it not to be splashed all over the AP and Reuters. Hamas says they will never negotiate with or recognize Israel.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader who participated in the talks said that peace with Israel was not on the table. “Our program does not include negotiations with Israel or recognizing it,” Zahar said in Cairo. “It will not be possible for the interim national government to participate or bet on or work on the peace process with Israel.”
Pretty clear. Pretty ominous. And pretty hard to find outside of the Israeli press. Here’s the party line that the wire services and mainstream media are pushing. In WaPo:
Abu Marzuk, the Hamas leader, said the conditions set by the Quartet, a group of Middle East mediators comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, were not part of the reconciliation agreement.
The AP:
Al-Ahmed said reconciliation was more important than negotiating with Israel, and said unity would make their position stronger in seeking statehood’
Reuters buries the quote in the 27th paragraph of a 30-paragraph story.
And yet, that is the most relevant quote of the entire issue. The Palestinians blame Israel for not negotiating when, in fact, the Palestinians have refused—for more than a year—to sit down for face-to-face negotiations. Now the Palestinians will blame Israel again, because Israel will not negotiate with Hamas. Come September, the Palestinians are going to try to push a resolution through the UN General Assembly recognizing the state of Palestine. At the rate they’re going, it will happen—unless, of course, Hamas and Fatah start shooting at each other again. Which is not a longshot.
When some youths in Gaza went out to spontaneously celebrate the unity agreement, Hamas sent goons to break up the festivities.
Hamas forces dispersed dozens of people who gathered in a Gaza City square to celebrate the progress made on the national reconciliation issue, witnesses and demonstrators said Wednesday.
The rally was organized late Wednesday following the news that Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and the Islamic Hamas movement reached an initial agreement on ending split and restoring unity in Cairo.
Several vehicles carrying Hamas detectives broke into the Unknown Soldier Park in the city and forced the joyful youths to leave, saying that the gathering was not licensed by Hamas authorities.
I’m with Barry Rubin on this one. My money’s on the accord breaking down fairly quickly. I don’t think it will last the summer, particularly if the new Gaza Flotilla is anything like the old one.
Meryl, again I will display my strange, almost mystical, powers of prognostication. As you say, the Hamas-Fatah agreement will result in the Palestinians meeting none of the Quartet’s requirements for them. The Quartet’s response will be to either ignore or drop the requirements.
All this, of course, will have no effect on pressures on Israel for more concessions.