Hamas, Fatah sign reconciliation deal
In other words, Vice President Shotgun Express is telling Israel it’s business as usual in its dealings with Palestinians.
Hamas knows this:
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called Cheney’s comments “inciteful and completely biased in favours of the Israeli occupation.”
He said it “confirms the United States is a partner to Israel in its war against our people and against the Gaza Strip.”
Against, bin Laden and al-Qaeda “hate” us not because of who we are, or what we do here at home, but because we write blank-check support to Israel, have troops in Arabia, and prop up corrupt authoritarian governments and monarchs.
Meanwhile, Hamas and Fatah have signed off on a Yemen-sponsored reconciliation deal.
It doesn’t solve anything yet, and it still has sticking points, but here’s the basics:
The Yemeni initiative calls for the situation in Gaza to return to the way it was before Hamas seized the area in June after routing Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The violence left Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah in control of the West Bank and entrenched divisions as the two movements vied for power and influence among the 4 million Palestinians in the two areas separated by Israel.
Fatah had said it would agree to direct reconciliation talks with Hamas only if the Islamist group first agreed to relinquish its hold on Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.
A Hamas official said on Saturday the group asked that the same condition should apply to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has dismissed a Hamas-led unity government and arrested some Hamas supporters.
This could be good for the U.S., if for no other reason it lowers Israeli aggressiveness, whether through fewer fears of Hamas or more fears of a united Palestinian front. But, if new elections, which the accord calls for, elect Hamas in both Gaza AND the West Bank, what then?
Will President Bush spin out another lie about how we are for democracy, but an elected Hamas isn’t “really” democracy, or we don’t really mean it about democracy promotion? Will Dick Cheney reiterate that our support for Israel is, indeed, a blank check?
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