Sunday, March 15, 2009

"Impossible Conditions"

Hamas and Fatah have been holding "reconciliation" talks in Egypt. The idea is to produce some sort of Palestinian unity" government. These talks have broken down, however, and the reason provides further proof, as if any were needed, that efforts by Israel to achieve "peace" with the Palestinians are a fool's errand.

According to Salah Bardaweel, a Hamas negotiator and legislator, the reconciliation talks broke down because Fatah took the position that there would be no unity government unless Hamas accepted all previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and recognized Israel's right to exist. Hamas considered this demand outrageous on its face, to the point that Bardaweel accused Fatah of intentionally "foiling the talks" by asserting it. "They set impossible conditions," he charged.