Abbas's government urges Europe to shun Hamas

Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:55pm IST

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Western-backed government warned European states on Monday against easing a boycott of Hamas Islamists, saying it could put unity talks at risk.

Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said he relayed that message last week to European leaders during talks in Brussels.

Egyptian efforts to reconcile Abbas's secular Fatah faction, which holds sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, have so far been unsuccessful.

The talks, held in Cairo, were adjourned last week without agreement on the shape or agenda of a proposed unity government that would oversee the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip after Israel's offensive, as well as prepare for new elections.

Negotiations are expected to resume but big differences remain, including over demands by Fatah that Hamas agree to abide by interim peace agreements signed with Israel. Hamas has refused to make such a commitment.

The Islamist group, which beat Fatah in a 2006 Palestinian parliamentary election, is shunned by the United States and the European Union as a "terrorist" organisation for refusing to renounce violence, recognise Israel and abide by interim agreements.

But some European states have limited contacts with the group and hold out the possibility of further engagement if the group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after routing Abbas's forces there, softens its stance on Israel.

Malki said European overtures could undermine the unity talks by giving Hamas the impression that "the international community, and especially the European Union, is ready to change its position towards Hamas", whether the group agrees to abide by interim agreements or not.

"There wouldn't be any harm if (European states) talked to Hamas after we reach a reconciliation agreement and after Hamas joins the parties committed to the agreements," Malki said.

" [A Palestinian leadership's] refusal to recognize the inalienable right of the Jewish people to self-determination anywhere between the Mediterranean and the Jordan signals Palestinian society's continuing to define our conflict in zero-sum terms."


Suleiman's 'wisdom' (Or, weaseling-in Hamas)
Mar. 19, 2009, THE JERUSALEM POST

While top Israeli emissaries were in Cairo seeking Gilad Schalit's freedom this week, their usual interlocutor, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, was not. He was in Khartoum and Riyadh on Arab League business.

Suleiman then flew to Washington to see US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He is hoping to convince the Obama administration to abandon the conditions set in January 2006, after Hamas beat Fatah in Palestinian elections, requiring Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past PLO commitments before the international community will deal with the Islamists.

In the wake of all that's happened in the past three years, Suleiman has concluded that an ever-more entrenched Hamas needs to be accommodated if the Palestinians are to speak with one voice and function in the international arena. Several EU states already flirt with Hamas, discreetly. Russia and China do so openly.

Suleiman has come up with a work-around to overcome international insistence - or what's left of it - on what Hamas must do to join a Palestinian government. What if Hamas vaguely promises to "respect" previous PLO commitments rather than declare its outright acceptance of them? Instead of dwelling on who recognizes whom, and how, isn't it better to have Hamas and Fatah acting responsibly together?

FOR ISRAEL, however, who recognizes whom, and how, goes to the heart of the conflict - since the refusal to recognize the inalienable right of the Jewish people to self-determination anywhere between the Mediterranean and the Jordan signals Palestinian society's continuing to define our conflict in zero-sum terms. So if Suleiman's creative diplomacy ushers Hamas into a Palestinian government without it having to change its stripes, he will be undoing decades of painstaking steps Palestinians and Israelis have taken toward mutual recognition. That would put a question mark over the entire Oslo edifice, which has been preserved by successive Israeli governments.

Put differently: If the international community turns its back on the most elementary prerequisites for Palestinian-Israeli cooperation - mutual recognition, non-belligerency and adherence to past agreements - it will be tearing asunder the existing basis for relations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

ISRAEL HAS long made a "nuisance" of itself trying to elicit recognition from Palestinian leaders - the only way to establish that the conflict has moved onto a non-zero sum basis. And that recognition seemed forthcoming.

On December 7, 1988 Yasser Arafat declared in Stockholm: "The PNC accepted two states, a Palestinian state and a Jewish state, Israel. Is that clear enough?" And leading up to the September 1993 Oslo Accords, Fatah's central committee and the PLO's executive committee endorsed the deal in which the Palestinians recognized Israel.

Yet the extent to which Israelis may have been deluding themselves was blatantly exposed this week, when Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan declared on Palestinian television: "I want to say for the thousandth time, in my own name and in the name of all of my fellow members of the Fatah movement: We do not demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand of Hamas not to recognize Israel, because Fatah does not recognize Israel even today."

Actually, Palestinian moderates have been making this point time and again.

On October 3, 2006, Mahmoud Abbas told Al-Arabiya TV that he didn't expect Fatah, let alone Hamas, to recognize Israel. But a Palestinian government, qua government, had no choice but to "function opposite the Israelis on a daily basis," and it could hardly do so if its ministers didn't "recognize" their Israeli counterparts.

Thus Palestinian "moderates" have had no change of heart about Israel: It's just that Israel has leverage over the day-to-day lives of millions of Palestinians, who are also dependent on international hand-outs and diplomatic support. Realpolitik forces their governing authority - but not them - to "recognize" Israel. In other words, if one has cancer, la sama'ha Allah, doesn't one "recognize" that fact and seek palliatives pending a cure?

Israel's failure to insist that Fatah adhere to its commitments hasn't brought peace any closer, but blurred the distinction between moderates and extremists.

We're not sure which is more disheartening - Suleiman endeavoring to cover up Hamas rejectionism, or Fatah reveling in its own.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1237461629121&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

Fatah official:Fatah never recognized Israel's right to exist

Dahlan to Hamas: Never recognize Israel

Mar. 17, 2009
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST

Former Fatah security commander Muhammad Dahlan on Tuesday called on Hamas not to recognize Israel's right to exist, pointing out that Fatah had never recognized it.

This was the first time since the beginning of the peace process 15 years ago that a senior Fatah official has said that his faction does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

Dahlan's remarks were made in an interview with the Palestinian Authority's official Palestine TV station.

Dahlan, who has kept a low profile ever since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, resurfaced during Operation Cast Lead. Since then, he has made several public appearances, the latest being last Friday when he was seen praying next to PA President Mahmoud Abbas in a Ramallah mosque.

Fatah officials said that Dahlan's return to the center stage is an indication of his desire to play a role in any post-Abbas administration. They said that Dahlan was recently appointed as a special adviser to Abbas.

Dahlan confirmed that he was "providing advice and ideas" to Abbas, especially regarding to the reconciliation talks with Hamas that were launched in Cairo last week.

Until Operation Cast Lead, Dahlan was rarely seen in public. His aides said that after the Hamas "coup," he and scores of top Fatah operatives moved to Egypt.

Hamas said it was forced to drive the Fatah men out of the Gaza Strip because they were preparing, with the help of the US, to stage a coup against the Hamas government.

In the interview, Dahlan was asked about reports that Fatah was demanding that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist as a precondition for the establishment of a Palestinian "unity government." He called the reports "misleading" and said Hamas was "putting words in our mouths."

Dahlan added: "They say that Fatah has asked them to recognize Israel's right to exist and this is a big deception. For the one thousandth time, I want to reaffirm that we are not asking Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist. Rather, we are asking Hamas not to do so because Fatah never recognized Israel's right to exist."

He explained that it was the PLO, and not Fatah, which recognized Israel's right to exist when the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.

Fatah is the largest faction in the PLO. The second largest faction is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

"We acknowledge that the PLO did recognize Israel's right to exist, but we are not bound by it as a resistance faction," he added.

Dahlan boasted that the PA under Yasser Arafat had killed more Palestinians suspected of collaboration with Israel than Hamas.

"I want to point out that the Palestinian Authority under Abu Ammar [Arafat's nom du guerre] targeted collaborators 10 times more than Hamas," he said. "We put many of them on trial and executed many others. But we did this in accordance with the law and not the Hamas way."

Dahlan revealed that Hamas had executed without trial a number of bodyguards who escorted Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam, who was killed in an IAF raid on his brother's house in Gaza City during Operation Cast Lead.

Dahlan expressed discontent over Fatah's failure to convene its long-awaited sixth general conference, ever since the last general conference meeting 20 years ago. The conference is supposed to pave the way for holding internal elections in Fatah - a move that is likely to see the rise of "young guard" Fatah members like Dahlan to key decision-making positions in the faction.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1237114855755&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

A senior Fatah leader, Muhammad Dahlan, admitted March 16, 2009 on Palestinian Authority television that Fatah - just like Hamas - still does not recognize Israel.

Furthermore, he said that the Palestinian Authority's apparent "recognition" is to make the PA "acceptable" to the international community, and therefore allow it to continue to receive international aid:


"I want to say for the thousandth time, in my own name and in the name of all of my fellow members of the Fatah movement: We do not demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand of the Hamas movement not to recognize Israel, because the Fatah movement does not recognize Israel even today."


It is only the Palestinian Authority government, Dahlan insisted, that must "recognize" Israel - not out of conviction or sincerity, but in order to receive the needed help of the international community. This help would not come, says Dahlan, if the PA government did not "recognize" Israel.

The inherent contradiction between the Fatah, headed by "Chairman" Mahmoud Abbas, not recognizing Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, headed by "President" Mahmoud Abbas, "recognizing" Israel, was not challenged by the interviewer.

This is not merely Dahlan's opinion but apparently official PA ideology. It is nearly identical to the 2006 declaration made by Mahmoud Abbas himself that while PA ministers have to "recognize" Israeli ministers across a negotiating table, for functional purposes, this does not imply political recognition by Fatah of Israel:


"Hamas is not required to recognize Israel... It is not required of Hamas, or of Fatah, or of the Popular Front to recognize Israel."
-- From Palestinian Media Watch http://www.pmw.org.il

Olmert: This is our final offer to Hamas

After meeting with Shalit family, Olmert gives special address to nation to explain failure of talks aimed at releasing abducted soldier: 'Israel's government, as long as it is headed by me, will not agree to Hamas' dictations,' he says
Roni Sofer  Ynetnews   March 17, 2009

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a special address to the nation on Tuesday evening, in which he elaborated on the failure of the negotiations aimed at securing kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's release.

 

"We won't agree to the release of additional prisoners from Hamas' list beyond the hundreds we have agreed to release," he said, stressing that "we will not relay a new offer to Hamas."

 

The prime minister stressed that the cabinet ministers had chosen not to hold a detailed discussion on the matter due to its sensitivity.

 

He added, however, that "all ministers accepted the conclusions of the delegates (to the negotiations), that Hamas' current conditions prevent the possibility of completing the talks and returning Gilad Shalit home."

 

Olmert stressed that he would not give in to Hamas. "The Israeli government, as long as it is headed by me, will not agree to Hamas' dictations as presented to the negotiating team.

 

"The Israeli offers presented to the other side were generous and far-reaching and were meant to lead to Gilad's release. I approved these offers, whose practical meaning was to release hundreds of terrorists, including murderers of Israelis, in return for Shalit's possible release. These offers were rejected."

 

'Our red lines won't be crossed'

The prime minister said that he would not relay additional offers to Hamas' representatives and put the ball in their court. "We won’t agree to the release of additional prisoners from the Hamas list beyond the hundreds we agreed to release and informed them of," he said.

 

Shalit family watches PM's address (Photo: Orly Zeiler)

 

Olmert stated that he had made every effort to release the kidnapped soldier. "We have acted over the years tirelessly, in hidden, bold, unprecedented ways in order to return our children home. That's what we did to bring Gilad back, so far unsuccessfully."

 

He said that he plans to continue his efforts to release Shalit. "We'll talk to whomever we can. We won't cease our efforts. Throughout these years we held meetings on numerous channels – in different places in the world, in the region and in distant places – in order to create a route which would cause the efforts for Gilad's release to mature.

 

"We were assisted by different mediators, leaders and heads of states, as well as unofficial representatives. We didn’t spare any effort," he said.

 

The prime minister went on to point a finger to the Gaza Strip. "Unfortunately, we encountered a cruel, murderous and merciless body, lacking any basic human emotions, which was unwilling to accept the challenge.

 

"I would like to say here on behalf of the State of Israel and its government: We have red lines. We won't cross them. We are not a defeated nation, we are not a beaten country. A people which wishes to live and is surrounded by hostile countries, threatened by murderous terror organizations, cannot, is unwilling and will not give in to their dictations."

 

Olmert said he embraced the Shalit family and would continue the efforts to release Gilad. "We will continue the efforts to bring about Gilad Shalit's release these days as well."

 

He said that the Shalit family "knows that I am committed wholeheartedly to work with the entire government in order to bring Gilad back home. That's what I have done and that's what I will do," Olmert concluded.

 

Prisoners' conditions to be worsened?

In a special cabinet meeting convened Tuesday afternoon, the government appointed a special ministerial committee headed by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to examine ways to pressure Hamas, including forming regulations which would compare the conditions of Hamas prisoners jailed in Israel to those of Gilad Shalit.

 

The kidnapped soldier's family met with the prime minister at the end of the meeting. Gilad's father, Noam, sounded slightly optimistic, saying shortly afterwards, "Olmert has not given up."

 

All the defense officials who spoke during the cabinet meeting said that accepting Hamas' conditions would heavily damage the State of Israel, excluding IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

 

Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, Olmert's special emissary Ofer Dekel, Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin and other professionals stressed that holding the negotiations at the same time as the comprehensive public and media campaign damaged the Israeli side.

 

According to the defense officials, Hamas went back on agreements reached in the past and was convinced that due to the public pressure Israel would agree to release all 450 prisoners, although Israel only agreed to free 320 of them.

 

Basically, the Palestinians are still fighting the War of 1948

 

Commentator Yossi Klein Halevi, in a column in the Globe & Mail, notes  " [T]he continuing refusal of the Palestinian leadership, and much of the Arab leadership generally, to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state in any borders.

 

 Not even moderate Palestinian leaders such as Mahmoud Abbas have told their people that the Jews are here to stay, that this land must be shared by two peoples.

 

Instead, the Palestinian media — of Fatah as well as Hamas — continues to tell its people that the Jews are thieves and usurpers, and that eventually the entirety of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River will belong to them."

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090313.wessay0314/BNStory/specialComment/home

 

Yet how many people believe that:

 

(a) the Palestinian leadership is only posturing?

(b) the real issue in the conflict is the presence of Jewish settlements in the West Bank?

(c) Fatah, with its Al Aksa Martyr's Brigade, is ready to deliver peace?

(d)  the Palestinian people are prepared to accept peace with Israel?

(e) there is a real possibility that Hamas can change its positions?

 

And we can go on listing other improbable assumptions.

 

//Mark Finkelstein

March 18: Public meeting with Israel's Consul General to the Midwest

The Jewish Community Relations Commission of the Jewish Federation and Beth El Jacob Synagogue are honored to announce a public meeting with

 

                                               Consul General Orli Gil

                                               Head of Mission

                                               Israel Consulate to the Midwest,  Chicago

 

 

 

                                               Wednesday, March 18, 2009

 

                                                              7:00 pm

                                            

                                  at  Beth El Jacob Synagogue  954 Cummins Parkway in Des Moines

 

 

For further information, contact  jcrc@dmjfed.org