HAMAS - An Update

11/10/06

HAMAS- An Update

In the 9/10/06 comment we predicted continued progress towards a peaceful solution; survival, starvation will trump ideology every time. Events are unfolding as expected.
Despite the recent killing of 18 Palestinian civilians by an errant Israel barrage, Hamas and the rival Fatah Party continue with talks. The exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal called for a militant response to the killings but no one this time seems to be taking his comments seriously; indeed, as of this writing there have been no reprisal attacks. Ending the US-led boycott has assumed the #1 priority. Today, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he would step down from his post if the move would persuade the West to lift debilitating economic sanctions. Now that’s progress! This would not have been possible without 1) the US-lead push for a reformed, consensual government in the PA and 2) the Hamas electoral victory, seen on first blush as a disaster (except to our readers) but in reality a harbinger to peace in this region.

Robert Craven