A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
As the Jerusalem Post observes, the timing of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation couldn't be better for Hamas. Those thousands of Gazans who had hoped to have their voices heard by the world -- whose displeasure at Hamas's appalling regime parallels that of the Tunisians, the Egyptians, the Libyans, the Syrians, and who dared take to the streets of Gaza to say so -- have been silenced more effectively than anything the Hamas security forces could have dreamt of.
Abbas, who had wagged his finger censoriously at Hamas for ignoring the resentment of their people, has now jumped into bed with them instead. He has thus announced to the Palestinians of Gaza that as far as Fatah is concerned, they -- like the Israelis -- can put up or shut up. And his imprimatur has given foreign observers -- particularly those who have either a tacit or an open admiration for Hamas's goals and methods with regard to Israel -- an out to ignore the pesky problem of Palestinians who themselves dissent from the required narrative of "resistance" over nation-building. Those Palestinians are now voiceless wraiths, inconvenient and ignorable. They are like the citizens of south Lebanon who object to Hezbollah's cooption of their future and the citizens of Iran whose cries against the mullahs evaporate into the wind. They might still be talking, but nobody's listening.
In addition to the boost in legitimacy and prestige it provided to Hamas, Abbas's capitulation has also given them an immediate, practical dividend: it handed Egypt the pretext they needed to open the border with Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby is quoted as saying the Rafah crossing will be permanently reopened within a week or so, so as to ease the "suffering of the Palestinian people." It'll certainly ease the suffering of Hamas, which will now have much easier access to the flow of arms and personnel. The opening of the border effectively cancels the Egyptian blockade of Gaza and directly violates what Haaretz explains was "an agreement reached in 2005 between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union, which gives EU monitors access to the crossing. The monitors were to reassure Israel that weapons and militants wouldn't get into Gaza after its pullout from the territory in the fall of 2005." So much for that. In case there was any doubt following the Egyptian revolution, Israel now must reorient its defense forces to face a hostile western front potentially on a par with the threat across the northern border.
Oh, and remember Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian PM? The one who's been working alongside Abbas for years to purge the West Bank of Hamas influence, and who's been generally perceived in the West (if a bit uncritically) as a true advocate of peace with Israel? Well, he's under the bus too.
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Comments :
Mar '11
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
Judith,
Welcome to the underside of Mr Obama's bus.
The only ray of hope is Mr Netanyahu's forthcoming address to the joint session of Congress. When I was on a tour of the Capitol a year or so ago the guide was explaining that Mr Netanyahu was a frequent visitor, often see around the corridors.
The 2012 election is maybe more important for the people of Israel than it is for us here in the US.
Aug '10
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0429/1224295671570.html
Edited on Apr 29, 2011 at 1:38amHere is the Editorial position of the Irish Times today. You will of course note that the obvious negatives of the deal are touched upon only by a sceptical summary of an allegedly predictable Israeli response. I bring this to the attention of Ricochet members not because the opinion of the unfailingly pro-Palestinian IT is of any particular importance to Israel, but because it is in interesting case study in how Israel's legitimate concerns are treated in the mainstream of a country which will play a prominent role in any forthcoming flotilla and which is at risk of electing a Presidential candidate who routinely makes Israel/Nazi comparisons. Also note the failure of the editorial to acknowledge the concerns expressed by the US and others about the deal.
Mar '11
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
There's a Greek saying, that "A crow does not gauge out another crow's eye"; no surprise that Fatah and Hamas have reconciled. I suspect that a major consideration is financial, after all it is much easier to pilfer and secrete in foreign banks the aid that the useful western idiots provide to "the Palestinian people", if all the Palestinian leaders are working together and not at cross purposes, after all there's enough loot to go around.
My guess is that in the US the Congress will drag along a reluctant Administration towards the path of suspending any aid towards a Palestinian entity that is run by Hamas. I doubt that the EU will do the same.
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
My bet is that the Egyptian military, which is clearly more sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood than it used to be, fostered this accord. Fatah is in decline; Hamas is on the rise. Abbas is a weakling.
Aug '10
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
Israel is gravely threatened and should prepare to be attacked soon.
May '10
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
All the more reason to support the overthrow of the Syrian butcher then. It looks likely that war by Israel with the new Palesitinian coalition is on the cards.
Mar '11
Re: A Good Time to Be a Hamasnik
Hmm, that would be great as long as one could be sure that whoever replaces him is going to be a little more conciliatory and a little less friendly towards Iran. The problem is that by throwing money and other assistance to those trying to overthrow Assad, without paying too much attention to who they are and what they want, which seems to be the direction US policy has taken in the Libyan situation, is not going to help. Witness what happened in Egypt. Mubarak, as someone (FDR, LBJ?) had said in connection to some disagreeable earlier dictator, may have been "a son of a bitch but he [was] our son of a bitch". Not that Assad is even that, but there can be worse, e.g. an Assad with greater popular support.