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Zaleukos · 04-19-2006, 07:54 AM

There's a catch 22 situation with Hamas. The west and Israel obviously cannot cooperate with them as long as their programme includes "the destruction of Israel". In particular Israel cant hand over the tax and toll money they've collected on behalf of the Palestinians to such an organization. And Hamas cant remove that paragraph or they will lose face, especially as Israel and the west arent cooperating.

On the other hand Israel and Hamas are in a de facto ceasefire and has been so for more than a year. No bombings or targeted killings either way. It's not in the interest of either side to resume the attacks either. And Hamas is democratically elected as a replacement to a horribly corrupt Fatah government, which even though its leader and its program officially are against terror attacks have pretty deep connections with the "Al Aqsa martyr brigades", who never observed any ceasefire. A few weeks ago Gaza saw the ridiculous situation of Hamas trying to stop Fatah activists from firing rockets into Israel. The Fatah aligned elements within the police and security forces are turning into ordinary gangs now that their party is out of government.

I'm fairly sure there are unofficial contacts between the sides, and the Israelis might even be happy with foreign aid (at least if it is Russian, they are probably not so happy about Iran building ties to the Palestinians) helping stabilize the situation in the Palestinian territories. Anarchy there is definitely not in the best interest of Israel. It will only further the cause of terrorists and criminals.

EDIT: Putin is at any rate incredibly hypocritical. The war on terror is an excellent excuse for an almost genocidal suppression of that place. Chechens disappear almost every day.

[ 04-19-2006, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Zaleukos ]

04-19-2006, 07:54 AM	#8
Zaleukos The Magister Join Date: September 29, 2003 Location: Sweden Age: 49 Posts: 146	There's a catch 22 situation with Hamas. The west and Israel obviously cannot cooperate with them as long as their programme includes "the destruction of Israel". In particular Israel cant hand over the tax and toll money they've collected on behalf of the Palestinians to such an organization. And Hamas cant remove that paragraph or they will lose face, especially as Israel and the west arent cooperating. On the other hand Israel and Hamas are in a de facto ceasefire and has been so for more than a year. No bombings or targeted killings either way. It's not in the interest of either side to resume the attacks either. And Hamas is democratically elected as a replacement to a horribly corrupt Fatah government, which even though its leader and its program officially are against terror attacks have pretty deep connections with the "Al Aqsa martyr brigades", who never observed any ceasefire. A few weeks ago Gaza saw the ridiculous situation of Hamas trying to stop Fatah activists from firing rockets into Israel. The Fatah aligned elements within the police and security forces are turning into ordinary gangs now that their party is out of government. I'm fairly sure there are unofficial contacts between the sides, and the Israelis might even be happy with foreign aid (at least if it is Russian, they are probably not so happy about Iran building ties to the Palestinians) helping stabilize the situation in the Palestinian territories. Anarchy there is definitely not in the best interest of Israel. It will only further the cause of terrorists and criminals. EDIT: Putin is at any rate incredibly hypocritical. The war on terror is an excellent excuse for an almost genocidal suppression of that place. Chechens disappear almost every day. [ 04-19-2006, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Zaleukos ]