ANALYSIS: Cease-fire with Hamas would make PA irrelevant
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel Last update - 27/04/2008 Ha'Aretz
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' statement Friday in Washington that he had failed to move ahead negotiations with Israel after talks with President George W. Bush reveals how anxious the Fatah leadership is over a possible cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which would make the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank almost irrelevant.
While no apparent progress has been made between Israel and the PA on the final-status agreement, Hamas will have one of the most significant victories in its history, if not the most significant.
Palestinian public opinion may see the agreement, which lifts the blockade in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, as proof that only attacks and Qassam rockets can wrest concessions from Israel.
Palestinian and Egyptian sources say the cease-fire will initially apply to the Gaza Strip only, but six months later, if quiet prevails, it will expand to the West Bank, something the PA has failed to do for seven and a half years. Under those circumstances, who needs Abbas - they might really be able to start packing at the Muqata.
Hamas is also demanding that during the cease-fire in Gaza, Israel does not respond militarily there to attacks in the West Bank or within the Green Line. This is a stumbling block for Israel, which is concerned that the agreement will increase Hamas' motivation to carry out attacks in the West Bank.
Another weakness in the agreement is that it apparently does not include the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The head of Hamas' political wing in Damascus, Khaled Meshal, took pains yesterday in Qatar to explain that Hamas is not keen for the cease-fire to happen. But in reality, Hamas is very interested, so the economic blockade can be lifted and its position strengthened.
If Hamas fails this week in Cairo to persuade the other groups in Gaza to join it, its dilemma will be whether to restrain Islamic Jihad, or risk the collapse of the understandings with Egypt and Israel.
Without the other [Palestinian terrorist ] groups on board, Israel will discount the agreement. The murder Friday of two Israelis at the Nitzanei Shalom industrial zone near Tul Karm might be the first of a wave of terror by Islamic Jihad and other groups hoping to disrupt the calm in the Strip.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
AP's coverage of Israel at 60 continues. Installment focuses on the Palestinian perspective.
The second installment of the AP's coverage of Israel at 60 was published today in the DM Register and presumably in newspapers across the country. CAMERA.org will most likely examine the series in detail.
Today's installment covers the Palestinian side of the story, recounting both how Palestinians "look back on failures" and how the current "influx of foreign aid ahve given the West Bank's middle class and business community a sense of opportunity." The article states, for example, that "Abbas' government plans to build 30,000 apartments in several new suburbs [ =settlements. Let's use the same terms. ]." And that there is high-rise construction leading into Ramallah.
In brief, the language used in the article is generally pareve. For example: "The state [Palestinians] were to have in a partitioned Holy Land was made stillborn by the 1948 war. The 1967 war that brought the West Band and Gaza under Israeli rule doubled the [Palestinian] catastrophe [naqba]. And the negotiations that are meant to bring about a Palestinian state are bedeviled by violence and distrust."
Yes, the 1948 war initiated by the Arabs to prevent Israel from coming into existence did also kill the prospects of the Arab Palestinian state --- when Jordan and Egypt grabbed the land and failed to created, in it, the Arab Palestinian state. But... those are just details.
Similarly, in sidebar introductions of Palestinian leadership, we see a similar "even-handedness" of expression. In describing Khaled Mashaal, the Hamas "political leader" [ read: terrorist resident in Syria], it is noted that "Hamas does not recognize Israel." [read= Hamas preaches that Jews are the sons of 'apes and pigs' a nd teaches Palestinian youths to hate and kill Jews.] But again, just details.
The paragraph introducing Arafat fails to indicate that his PLO was a terrorist organization which pre-dated "the Occupation," which itself was created after the Arab countries failed to negotiate with Israel for the territory Israel captured in a defensive war in 1967. The paragraph does state that " A six-year Palestinian uprising [beginning in 1987] ended after Arafat negotiated a peace deal with Israel [in 1993], but [the Oslo peace process ] later fell apart after new violence." [read= After rejecting the offer of Palestinian sovereignty at Camp David in 2000, Arafat reneged on the basic terms of the Oslo peace process -- in which he swore to abandon the use of violence -- and started a second, violent intifada rather than continue negotiations with Israel. The result: thousands of deaths attributed to Arafat and the decimation of the Palestinian economy.] And oh yes, he stole millions of dollars from his own people, funds that were supposed to go to building businesses, jobs, and infastructure to support a fledgling Palestinian state.
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Hamas admits the truce is only a "tactic" in furthering its aims
CAIRO (AP) — The chief of Hamas said Saturday that his group would accept an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, but that it would be a “tactic” in the group’s struggle with the Jewish state.
Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television that Egypt had proposed a six-month truce between Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel. He said his group was ready to cooperate, but added, “It is a tactic in conducting the struggle.” He called it “normal for any resistance” to sometimes escalate, sometimes retreat from fighting. “Hamas is known for that. In 2003, there was a cease-fire and then the operations were resumed.” He warned of an explosion of violence in Gaza if Israel rejected the truce.
---- [commentary on this at http://www.yourish.com/2008/04/27/4730 ]
The second installment of the AP's coverage of Israel at 60 was published today in the DM Register and presumably in newspapers across the country. CAMERA.org will most likely examine the series in detail.
Today's installment covers the Palestinian side of the story, recounting both how Palestinians "look back on failures" and how the current "influx of foreign aid ahve given the West Bank's middle class and business community a sense of opportunity." The article states, for example, that "Abbas' government plans to build 30,000 apartments in several new suburbs [ =settlements. Let's use the same terms. ]." And that there is high-rise construction leading into Ramallah.
In brief, the language used in the article is generally pareve. For example: "The state [Palestinians] were to have in a partitioned Holy Land was made stillborn by the 1948 war. The 1967 war that brought the West Band and Gaza under Israeli rule doubled the [Palestinian] catastrophe [naqba]. And the negotiations that are meant to bring about a Palestinian state are bedeviled by violence and distrust."
Yes, the 1948 war initiated by the Arabs to prevent Israel from coming into existence did also kill the prospects of the Arab Palestinian state --- when Jordan and Egypt grabbed the land and failed to created, in it, the Arab Palestinian state. But... those are just details.
Similarly, in sidebar introductions of Palestinian leadership, we see a similar "even-handedness" of expression. In describing Khaled Mashaal, the Hamas "political leader" [ read: terrorist resident in Syria], it is noted that "Hamas does not recognize Israel." [read= Hamas preaches that Jews are the sons of 'apes and pigs' a nd teaches Palestinian youths to hate and kill Jews.] But again, just details.
The paragraph introducing Arafat fails to indicate that his PLO was a terrorist organization which pre-dated "the Occupation," which itself was created after the Arab countries failed to negotiate with Israel for the territory Israel captured in a defensive war in 1967. The paragraph does state that " A six-year Palestinian uprising [beginning in 1987] ended after Arafat negotiated a peace deal with Israel [in 1993], but [the Oslo peace process ] later fell apart after new violence." [read= After rejecting the offer of Palestinian sovereignty at Camp David in 2000, Arafat reneged on the basic terms of the Oslo peace process -- in which he swore to abandon the use of violence -- and started a second, violent intifada rather than continue negotiations with Israel. The result: thousands of deaths attributed to Arafat and the decimation of the Palestinian economy.] And oh yes, he stole millions of dollars from his own people, funds that were supposed to go to building businesses, jobs, and infastructure to support a fledgling Palestinian state.
---------------------------------------------------
Hamas admits the truce is only a "tactic" in furthering its aims
CAIRO (AP) — The chief of Hamas said Saturday that his group would accept an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, but that it would be a “tactic” in the group’s struggle with the Jewish state.
Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television that Egypt had proposed a six-month truce between Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel. He said his group was ready to cooperate, but added, “It is a tactic in conducting the struggle.” He called it “normal for any resistance” to sometimes escalate, sometimes retreat from fighting. “Hamas is known for that. In 2003, there was a cease-fire and then the operations were resumed.” He warned of an explosion of violence in Gaza if Israel rejected the truce.
---- [commentary on this at http://www.yourish.com/2008/04/27/4730 ]
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