US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton last week belatedly recognized that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) of Mahmoud Abbas may not be a viable peace partner for Israel after all.
Too bad her husband already made that realization completely irrelevant by helping to immutably entrench the PLO den of killers as celebrated, peace-seeking international diplomats.
So, the media is all abuzz over Olmert’s meeting yesterday with Abbas, and the silly notion that the coming together of the impotent “Palestinian” leader and admittedly fatigued Israeli premier is somehow going to lead to a final peace settlement.
Lost among the escalating violence in the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories is the fact that the present situation is the direct result of the Palestinian Arabs democratically deciding that they want the worst of the terrorists among them to be their leaders.
Israel, America, Europe, everybody pressed the Palestinian Authority to allow true democratic elections. And then the general public overwhelmingly elected Hamas.
I cannot remember the number of times I have been asked by visitors or online friends what exactly is wrong with the Israelis, who seemingly against all reason continue to capitulate to their enemies’ demands in some vain hope of peace.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has given his “word of honor” to release hundreds, perhaps thousands of “Palestinian” security prisoners as a goodwill gestures he hopes will move the two sides closer to peace.
Why is this a bad idea? Two reasons.
Israel’s leadership is making the predictable error of being dragged into a process of thinking it can deal with PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and talk peace with him, while somehow bypassing the democratically-elected representatives of the Palestinian Arabs - the Hamas terrorist organization.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested following talks with her Saudi counterpart on Tuesday that the Arab world has come to a concensus on the need to recognize Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish state.
Either Rice is visiting a Middle East in some parallel universe, or she is severely out of touch with the will of the Arab street.
US President George W. Bush said following the September 11, 2001 attacks on his nation that from hence forth there could be no distinction between terrorist killers and the people and nation’s who harbor, finance and support them.
If that is the case, then everyone has got to stop treating the Palestinian Arabs with kid gloves!
An Islamic studies professor from the Hebrew University got real with participants in last week’s counter-terrorism conference in Herzliya about why true peace between Israel and the Arab world just isn’t ever going to happen.
While Israel and the West do their best to separate religion and the governing of the state, Professor Moshe Sharon explained that in the Middle East, Islam is everything, influences everything, is the basis of everything.
“The root of the problem between us and the Arab world is Islam,” which views Israel’s rebirth as an unacceptable “reversal of history.”
As such, peace agreements between Israel and its Muslim neighbors can never be anything more than “pieces of paper, parts of tactics, strategies” that have “no meaning” so far as true peace is concerned.
Again, the international media and many Western government are jumping the gun, and mistaking Hamas’ efforts to secure financial aid as an indication the terror group is suddenly ready to abandon its core positions and live in peaceful coexistence with Israel.
The source of the misguided enthusiasm this time is news of an imminent Palestinian Authority unity government, under the terms of which Hamas appears to be indirectly recognizing the Jewish state.
But it is not peace that is driving this move. Rather it is the crushing economic sanctions the PA has been living under since Hamas took over the government in January. Hamas has seen its popularity plummet after being unable to pay over 150,000 PA employees for the past half year. The group is desperate to secure funds. But certainly not desperate enough to renounce the virulent hatred for and brutal violence against Israel that brought it to power.
Asked by Israel’s Army Radio if Hamas’ implicit acceptance of negotiations with Israel signalled an “end to the conflict,” Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said Tuesday:
“That’s not what we’re saying. We have no problem accepting a state with the 1967 borders.” However, “We are not willing to recognize Israel. This is our country.”
A day earlier, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Ha’aretz:
“We would like to have the embargo lifted, but we will not surrender to external dictates and we will not agree to sacrifice the interests and rights of the Palestinian people.”
The left-wing Israeli newspaper also noted that the draft unity government proposal also provides for Hamas to reject any previous agreements between Israel and the PA that it feels do not “serve Palestinian interests.” And while it does call for a halt to acts of terror inside sovereign Israel, the deal gives a green light for continued violence against Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
Unfortunately, the international community, and in particular the mainstream media, continue to see only what they want to see, rather than listening to what Hamas has to say or actually reading the documents that are purportedly forming the base of future peace and stability.
