Posted on 01/26/2006 9:07:40 AM PST by dervish
Israeli officials convened emergency meetings on Thursday to decide how to respond to the militant Hamas group's upset victory in Palestinian elections, maintaining an outward silence while privately blaming each other for the upheaval.
Hamas' stunning showing in Wednesday's vote could send tremors through Israel's own political establishment ahead of March elections by bolstering hawks who oppose territorial concessions to the Palestinians.
'snip'
"After Hamas is elected, can the world not talk to them?" former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Army Radio. "The world will speak to them saying that they were elected in a democratic process ... I think if we had prevented them from participating in the elections this wouldn't have happened."
'snip'
"Likeliest to suffer is Kadima, the centrist party Ariel Sharon formed in November, after breaking away from Likud, to seek more leeway in setting Israel's final borders. Kadima maintained a strong lead in pre-election polls, even after Sharon was incapacitated by a stroke.
Likud's leader, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that Hamas' dramatic election victory would turn the Palestinian Authority into a radical, Islamic regime."
I suppose at this moment in time we ARE doing business with Hamas, given this election. NOT doing business with Hamas will require action on the part of the west to cut off aid, which they will not do... at least not immediately. They will attempt to use the aid as a carrot to soften Hamas' position. Hamas, in turn, will accept as much aid as possible while telling us to go to hell all the while. Eventually some part of the free money pipeline may be cut off... no telling when. Seventeen UN resolutions for another country in the region comes to mind.
Think there is a difference between Fatah and Hamas in their aims?
Fatah, more secular, was more adept at media propaganda.
The Left, the EU, the State Dept, will train Hamas to be as good and business will become as usual.
And Israel, as always, will be the obstacle to peace.
It depends. So far, it seems that Hamas isn't able to keep ANYTHING under control. They are brownshirts without German organizational skills. Soon will come the Night of the Long Knives. Maybe tonight.
The good thing is, the leader will be easier to target when they get up to the podium for their annual State of Terror report.
"My fellow terrorists. Greetings I bring...
*PFFFFFT*. clunk. Pandemonium erupts in crowded donkey stall.
""The election of Hamas is an extraordinary opportunity to move the peace process forward.""
You know, what be be an extraordinary occurence would be if Palestinians would stop supporting terrorism and groups that use terrorism... but failing that, I'd rather their support for terrorism be open so the world can see who is on which side.
Hamas' stunning showing in Wednesday's vote could send tremors through Israel's own political establishment ahead of March elections by bolstering hawks who oppose territorial concessions to the Palestinians... Likud's leader, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that Hamas' dramatic election victory would turn the Palestinian Authority into a radical, Islamic regime."Netanyahu would be the first in line to hold talks with Hamas if he's elected PM. If anything, this development will drag Likud to an extreme position and loss of seats, strengthen Kadima or -- if this leads more Israelis to throw up their hands and think it's now mere realism to have to talk with Hamas -- they'll vote Labor.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/ottolenghi200601261002.asp
This is the link to the NRO piece. I hope it helps you find it, I am not too slick with this stuff. I thought I saw it posted here today, but I couldn't find that thread quickly. It's kind of a strangely written piece, I think it could have stood one more round with the blue pencil, but interesting nonetheless. It's up on the front page of NRO as of now.
Nothing, that is, until the moment that Katyusha rockets start coming in from Palestine and landing in Israeli neighborhoods in Jerusalem.
Then the response...to the Hamas controlled and duly elected Palestinian government...should be total and swift annihilation of the Palestinian government and the occupation of the former Palestinian lands.
Up until this point, the response from Palestine has been, "Hamas launched the rockets. This is not an action of the Palestinian authority."
Well...things are a lot different now...aren't they? Time to take off the gloves.
thank you
Netanyahu would be the first in line to hold talks with Hamas if he's elected PM. If anything, this development will drag Likud to an extreme position and loss of seats, strengthen Kadima or -- if this leads more Israelis to throw up their hands and think it's now mere realism to have to talk with Hamas -- they'll vote Labor.
Wrong, wrong, and wrong.
"the international community, while respecting the democratic verdict of a fundamentally fair electoral process, must hold them to account. The issue is not whether Europe, the U.S., or Israel should talk to Hamas. The issue is whether there is anything to talk about with Hamas, and the burden of proof is on Hamas to demonstrate they are capable of becoming interlocutors."
We will see how the world reacts. For the past twenty or so years a terrorist Arafat managed to convince the leftists and many governments and Nobel committees that he was interested in peace and coexistence.
There was nothing to talk about there either but the West's ability to fool itself and the Muslim leaders ability to invent scapegoats works on a different logic. Oil.
They could have voted for the Independant List, if they wanted to send Fatah an anti-corruption message.
Israel should take back the land that it ceded in exchange for a phoney "peace."
"The issue is not whether Europe, the U.S., or Israel should talk to Hamas. The issue is whether there is anything to talk about with Hamas, and the burden of proof is on Hamas to demonstrate they are capable of becoming interlocutors."
Glad you found it, and yes, that IS the best bit of the whole article.
Well, I think the proof of the pudding will be realized sooner rather than later, for good or ill. Metaphor ALERT!
That's the most important point in this whole thing, needs to be repeated whenever possible.
Israeli officials convened emergency meetings on Thursday to decide how to respond to the militant Hamas group's upset victory in Palestinian elections... Likud's leader, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that Hamas' dramatic election victory would turn the Palestinian Authority into a radical, Islamic regime."
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