The New York Times reported today, “Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian movements, announced an agreement in principle on Wednesday to end a years-long internal Palestinian schism.
"It is time for the Palestinian people to reject the corrupt and useless leaders who have used violence and strife to insure their positions. It is also time for Israel to reject the extreme factions of their government." Taher Al-Nounou, a spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, said the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement to form a transitional unity government for the Palestinian territories to be followed by new elections after a year.
While the deal, reached after secret Egyptian-brokered talks, promised a potentially historic reconciliation for the Palestinians, Israel warned that a formal agreement would spell the end of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Even before the press conference to make the announcement, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a stern warning to the Palestinian Authority president and Fatah chief, Mahmoud Abbas.
“The Palestinian Authority has to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a televised address on Wednesday. “Peace with both of them is impossible because Hamas aspires to destroy the state of Israel and says so openly.” “ (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?_r=1&hp)
This is never good news for Israel. When the enemies of the Jewish people join together, buckle your seatbelts; the next target is Israel. I said this when Tunisia erupted a few months back. I said this when President Mubarak was removed after 30 years in office in Egypt. And I’m still saying it. When Sunnis and Shiites stop aiming at each other, the next target will be Israel.
I’m not the only one, of course, who worries when Hamas and Fatah link arm in arm. But I am one.
At the press conference in Cairo Wednesday, Moussa Abu Marzouq, a representative of Hamas, said the preliminary agreement between the two rival worldviews “ended a painful period in the history of the Palestinian people.” Adding that the Palestinian division had given Israel an opportunity to continue building settlements in the West Bank, he said, “Today we turn this page and open a new page.”
In other words, buckle your seatbelt. It’s not good news for Israel. Let’s see how the world reacts and especially those who love peace react. Hamas is no friend of anyone. The Times reported on the US reaction, “Tommy Vietor, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said that the administration was seeking more information but that it considered Hamas a terrorist organization that would not be a reliable partner in peace talks with Israel.”
Holding a machine gun behind a child-shield in one hand and an olive branch in the other, let’s see how this plays out.
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