Mubarak tried this for years with the Muslim Brotherhood. And everyone in Gaza will tell you that Hamas is just part of the political landscape. Intolerance, from Haaretz:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas could spell the end of the peace process, after an aide to Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian president was would be willing to give up U.S. aid if needed to secure unity with the rival faction.
"You can't have peace with both Israel and Hamas," Netanyahu said. "Choose peace with Israel."
Could spell the end of the peace process?! HA! As if that wasn’t dead and buried when Netanyahu ramped up the fleet of bulldozers on the West Bank.
Israeli bulldozers and tanks have just invaded Gaza. Looks like Israel is taking advantage of Obama’s Libya spotlight. link to networkedblogs.com
wow, we’ve been expecting this. there’s been a fair amount of buzz coming out of the activist community in the last few days when news americans in gaza were asked to leave within 5 days. yesterday there was a ‘group’ phone call with around 35 people around the country to establish rapid response teams and an emergency meeting is being held tomorrow night locally.
shit shit shit. this is bad news. thanks for the update i will pass it on.
Israeli tanks and bulldozers have been making incursions into Gaza ever since Israel “withdrew.”
Abbas should say that Netanyahu must choose between peace with Palestinians or Lieberman. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be a false choice.
Netanyahu has no leg to stand on. He’s had 2 years to deliver peace to Abbas while Abbas was in conflict with Hamas.
Abbas should say that Netanyahu must choose between peace with Palestinians or settlements.
Done it: “The choice before us is not between Hamas and the Israelis, as Netanyahu puts it; the choice lies with Netanyahu, he must choose between settlements and peace.”
The Jerusalem Post article ‘J’lem to cut ties with PA if Hamas added to unity gov’t', said that “Israel’s objection to Hamas inside the PA government would evaporate, the official added, if the organization accepted the Quartet’s three conditions for acceptance: forswearing violence, recognizing Israel, and accepting previous Israel-Palestinian agreements. “
But Netanyahu has never observed the conditions of acceptance laid down by the Quartet for the Israeli side:
Netanyahu demanded that Sharon build a perimeter fence around Gaza prior to the unilateral withdrawal. That was an integral part of his policy of ‘Separating Judea and Samaria from Gaza”, while designating it an “enemy entity” and blockading the inhabitants. All of those measures violate the terms of the previous agreements Israel signed with the Palestinians.
It has been widely reported that repeating those particular Quartet demands to Hamas was the first step in the Bush administration plans to scuttle the previous talks about establishing a”unity government”. The US delivered an ultimatum demanding the dissolution of the Hamas government that triggered a civil war in Palestine.
Article IV of the Oslo Accords stipulates that “The two sides view the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period.”
The Department of State advised the other executive branch agencies on January 13, 1997 that it “considers the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be one area for political, economic, legal and other purposes.”
UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009) stressed that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 that will be a part of the Palestinian state.
Either Abbas goes to Gaza as the next step towards Palestinian unity, as discussed with HAMAS so recently, or he does not. However precarious his position, he does have that ultimate choice. All he needs to do is publically announce he’s going at X time, and then follow up. In his announcement, he should state that the world should watch any attempt to foil his getting there by any disruptive incident, no matter from whom apparently originating. He should point out that both the Irish Troubles and the early Jewish state harbored terrorists but this did not ultimately stop the peace process in either case.
Either Abbas goes to Gaza as the next step towards Palestinian unity, as discussed with HAMAS so recently, or he does not. However precarious his position, he does have that ultimate choice.
citizen, i think abbas went recently, either way they have been meeting w/hamas reps in the WB
source
more from the haaretz article:
i think this is an excellent move. palestinians should make definitive moves to remove the US from any kind of mediating position regardless of what happens w/the UN. it’s been a raw deal w/the US all along.
I agree, Annie.
thnx citizen, in solidarity
The Palestinians should refuse to participate in any mediation except as a full UN member state participating in an international peace conference conducted solely under UN Organization auspices. No more backdoor/back-channel unofficial “Quartet” B.S.
agreed
I nominate the UNHRC, they are the most unbiased UN organization out there!
There isn’t a stock talking point DBG isn’t going to regurgitate at us, is there? Why don’t you give us your opinion on what Netanyahu is doing to Palestinian politics?
What about: the USA must choose between Bibi/Tzipi/Lieberman/the Likud and peace? And there’s nothing in between.
Just another example of Israel’s insincerity when it comes to being a “partner for peace”.
Phil/all over at Huffington Post (unable to link)
JERUSALEM — Israel is considering annexing major West Bank settlement blocs if the Palestinians unilaterally seek world recognition of a state, an Israeli official said Tuesday – moves that would deal a grave blow to prospects for negotiating a peace deal between the two sides.
Israel has refrained from taking such a diplomatically explosive step for four decades. The fact that it is considering doing so reflects how seriously it is concerned by the Palestinian campaign to win international recognition of a state in the absence of peacemaking.
The Palestinians launched that campaign after peace talks foundered over Israeli construction in West Bank settlements. On Tuesday, the Israeli Interior Ministry said it would decide next month whether to give final approval to build 1,500 apartments in two Jewish enclaves in east Jerusalem. Israel captured both east Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem, home to shrines sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, immediately after seizing it. But it carefully avoided annexing the West Bank, where 300,000 settlers now live among 2.5 million Palestinians.
Although it is widely assumed that under any peace deal, Israel would hold onto major settlements it has built in the past 44 years, any decision to formally annex West Bank territory would be a precedent-setting move that could increase Israel’s already considerable international isolation. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in addition to the Gaza Strip, for a future state.
The government official who disclosed the possible annexation said he did not know how seriously authorities were considering the option. He said that “adopting unilateral measures is not a one-way street” and added that other options were also being considered.
Israel West Bank Annexations Considered
Around ten years ago when there was speculation that Jerry Springer would run for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat – he said he would negotiate with Hamas. I don’t know what we have in The White House, but, that’s a Leader.
Choose war. It will succeed.