How not to win a state Dec 19th 2006 From The Economist print edition The rejectionists of Hamas have brought Palestinians to the edge of civil war
IT WAS obvious from the moment they did it, in January 2006, that the decision of Palestinian voters to put the Islamists of Hamas in charge of the legislature of the Palestinian Authority was bad news. But the full extent of the calamity this government has inflicted on the West Bank and, especially, the Gaza Strip is nonetheless astonishing. As the election's anniversary approaches, the Palestinians find themselves poised at the very edge of a civil war. Their elected president, Mahmoud Abbas of the chiefly secular Fatah movement, has called early presidential and legislative elections. Ismail Haniyeh, the (Hamas) prime minister, says that Mr Abbas has no constitutional right to do so. Indeed, Hamas accuses Fatah of trying to assassinate Mr Haniyeh and stage a coup. Palestinians have already begun to kill one another. Most Palestinians are anxious to avoid a schism that would deflect them from their confrontation with Israel. So they are still capable of drawing back from a fratricidal war. That would be a relief. But it would not resolve the underlying problem. This is that Hamas has spent its year in government clinging stubbornly to a rejectionist mantra that closes off almost any chance of peace with Israel. Mr Haniyeh has just returned from a visit to Tehran, where he said again that Hamas would never recognise Israel, would not honour any of the existing agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and would "continue the jihad until Jerusalem is liberated". Many people who sympathise with the Palestinian cause blame Israel or the West for the present miserable stalemate. They have a respectable point. America, Russia and the European Union have clamped a punishing diplomatic and economic embargo on the Palestinian government in an effort to force Hamas to soften its stance. Israel, having evacuated all its settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip last August, sent its army back after incessant rocket fire from Gaza and an audacious cross-border Hamas raid in which an Israeli soldier was abducted. If the world had played with more finesse, coaxing Hamas rather than boxing it into a corner, the movement's leaders just might have found it easier to be pragmatic. But the Palestinians also have to accept responsibility for their own actions. And, as Mr Abbas said bluntly in calling for elections, Hamas itself is to blame for squandering the opportunity provided when Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza. Hopes of foreign investment and state-building disappeared with the pointless rocket fire at Israel. About sponsorship AP Why a deal would be better than an early election George Bush and Tony Blair are no doubt pleased that the flaccid Mr Abbas has at last thrown down the gauntlet to Hamas. But neither they nor Israel should welcome the eruption of a civil war. More killing and chaos will not bring peace with Israel nearer. Nor are fresh elections a panacea. There is the danger of a boycott by voters, a hung parliament or another Hamas victory---especially if Palestinians think that Mr Abbas is being manipulated by his American and British supporters. Even a clear Fatah victory might not help. For all its mistakes, Hamas commands the loyalty of millions of Palestinians, so no peace with Israel will hold without its acquiescence. Far better than a premature election would be for Hamas and Fatah to agree to share power in a government that did not dedicate itself to perpetual jihad. It is possible that more inducements and flexibility from outsiders might help to jolly such an agreement along. But there can be no serious progress towards broader peace until Hamas, like Fatah before it, gives up the self-defeating idea that in order for the Palestinians to have a state the Jewish one has to disappear. Copyright © 2006 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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