Decision ‘08

Rice On Palestinian Unity Government: No Dice

The Secretary of State, rightly, is sticking to her guns regarding the new Palestinian unity government: no recognition of Israel, no recognition from us. Though, of course, she words it more diplomatically, seeing as how that is her vocation:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the formation of a Palestinian unity government that includes the Hamas militant group complicates her high-profile peace mission this weekend, strongly suggesting that the new government falls short of standards that would allow a resumption of international aid.

“Our position toward the Hamas government was very clear: It did not meet the international test,” Rice told a group of newspaper reporters on the eve of her departure. “I have to say that we have not yet seen any evidence that this one will.”

Rice added, “I don’t deny that it’s more complicated” now and that before the announcement of the unity government “it was clear, more black and white.”

With prodding by Saudi Arabia, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week reached a deal with his Hamas rivals that would bring Abbas’s Fatah party into the government. Yesterday, Abbas formally asked Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, to assemble the next cabinet.

Abbas’s move has placed the United States in a quandary because, under Rice’s formulation, he is a “mainstream” leader, while Hamas is an “extremist” group that needs to be isolated. The Bush administration has pushed a plan to bolster security forces loyal to Abbas in part because Hamas’s security forces have gained strength, but at the same time the administration has said it wanted an end to violence between Hamas and Fatah that has left scores dead. The unity accord is intended to end street battles between the factions.

After a weekend of meeting separately with Israeli and Palestinian officials, Rice intends to bring together Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday for a lengthy series of talks on the contours of a Palestinian state — what she calls “the political horizon.” She then will travel to Amman, Jordan, for meetings with Arab officials before flying to Berlin. There, she will meet with the other members of the “Quartet — Russia, the European Union and the United Nations– which monitors Middle East peace and set the conditions on aid to the Palestinians.

Rice’s hope is that the “political horizon” will provide a vision for a Palestinian state that will inspire the Palestinians, strengthen Abbas and reduce the influence of anti-Israeli militants such as Hamas. The Palestinian people need to “know what is at stake for them in the future,” Rice said. “Without a political horizon, it is going to be difficult to show why this course, the course of Abu Mazen, is better than other courses.” Abu Mazen is Abbas’s nickname.

Rice also hopes to prod Arab governments to begin the process of recognizing Israel as progress is made with the Palestinians — a way of strengthening Olmert, who suffers from low public approval ratings. The “political horizon has to include them, and it has to include a relationship between them and Israel,” Rice said, referring to Arab states.

Few details of the Palestinian unity agreement have been released, except a vague statement in which Abbas called upon Hamas to “respect international resolutions,” which appeared to fall far short of international demands that the new government pledge to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by previous agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority. Hamas officials later told reporters that the movement has no intention of ever recognizing Israel.

Read that last sentence again, and you know everything you need to know. Abbas himself, interestingly (and perhaps not surprisingly, given the rivalry between Fatah and Hamas), conveys a much more pessimistic picture than the one offered by Rice:

On Thursday it was unclear whether the US would back the new government.

Aides to Mr Abbas said Washington would continue its boycott unless the government met international demands over Israel.

The aides said the US position had been conveyed by Assistant Secretary of State David Welch in a phone call and in person to Mr Abbas by US consul general in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles.

US state department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington would not make a judgement until the government was formed.

As part of the power-sharing deal it was reported that Hamas had agreed to respect past Palestinian agreements that recognise Israel.

However, the BBC’s Alan Johnston in Gaza says the Americans are expected to demand an explicit statement of recognition and a renunciation of violence.

Hamas is a movement founded on principles of hate and kept alive by those same principles. It has no place at the same table we dine at. If the Palestinians choose Hamas, that is their right - but we are not obligated to turn our backs on our friends in Israel. The pity of it all is that once again, the Palestinian people will suffer, but the blinders need to come off eventually. There will be a two-state solution someday; it’s the only way to peace. There will be no ‘right of return’, but there will be monetary compensation.

The whole world of thinking people has known these facts for at least a decade now. It’s time for the Palestinian people to remove the scales from their eyes: Israel is not going anywhere. Get used to it; live with it; cooperate with it; get your independent state; and start rebuilding your lives and your country…

3 Responses to “Rice On Palestinian Unity Government: No Dice”

1 mikebdot Says:
February 16th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Might makes right.
2 Mark Says:
February 16th, 2007 at 7:34 am
No, hate makes wrong…
3 Gunga Says:
February 16th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Gee Mark…I hate waste…does that mean that waste is right?