Isreali troops have pulled out settlers from their homes in the Gaza strip. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Never mind the flagrant violation of property rights, a recent Supreme Court ruling shows how much sympathy that can get you over here.
The cold hard fact is that this gesture intended to move the peace process along will ultimately fail. In order for the returned land to be acceptable to the Palestanians, the Jews had to be removed from it. The two groups are not willing to live next door to each other. As long as this is the case there will not be peace. Leaders on both sides may claim there is, but fringe groups and people acting indepedently will continue to attack civilians.
from kirazalan.net
ReplyDeleteThe Palestinian part of the bargain is to disarm and disable the terrorists, but Abbas has yet to make a move. So far, he has been striking deals with Hamas to not interfere with Israeli withdrawal. But negotiating with terrorists has only backed the Palestinian Authority into a corner.
Hamas, the most organized and most popular terrorist group, will hold the Palestinian Authority hostage on every decision. As Sami Abu Zouhri, a Hamas spokesman, clarified that “If the Palestinian Authority continues to manage the withdrawal alone, we will protest at all the mistakes it may make. In particular, if the land is stolen from the people, or devoted to private projects or given to people close to the Authority, then we will react.” Reaction means “resuming operations” (what the rest of us like to call terrorist attacks). The “mistakes” will be determined by Hamas.
If Abbas is planning a swift round up of all known terrorists, he is likely to lose all credibility with the Palestinians. This is because Abbas has been visibly aligning himself with the popular martyr theory. Last week, banners waved across Gaza proclaiming that “The blood of martyrs has led to liberation.” Then, Abbas attended Friday prayers at Caliph Mosque, where the imam announced, “Allah knows that when we offer up our children, it is much better than choosing the road of humiliation and negotiation.” Additionally, the PA’s official radio station - Ramallah Voice of Palestine - continues to broadcast messages that Israelis “want neither a solution nor peace.” These statements are synonymous with those of Hamas, and the Palestinians are listening.