September 20, 2006

THE STREET GETS IT:

Abbas: PA gov't will recognize Israel (Khaled Abu Toameh, 9/19/06, THE JERUSALEM POST)

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will tell US President George W. Bush on Wednesday that the proposed Palestinian unity government will recognize Israel's right to exist and previous agreements between the PLO and Israel," PA officials told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Thousands of Hamas supporters took to the streets of Gaza City on Tuesday calling on Abbas not to succumb to American "dictates" regarding the unity government and to work toward resolving the financial crisis in the PA.

"President Abbas will make it clear that the political program of the unity government will clearly refer to the Arab peace plan that was declared in 2002 and which is based on a two-state solution," said one official. "He will also tell Bush that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promised that the unity government would honor all the agreements that were signed with Israel." The officials expressed hope that the US administration would change its negative position regarding the unity government following the planned meeting between Bush and Abbas.

"If the US wants to strengthen President Abbas, it must accept the unity government idea because there is no other alternative," another PA official told the Post. "I don't think the Palestinian public will accept a coup against a democratically elected government."

The official confirmed reports in the Arab media that Washington had threatened to boycott Abbas and his Fatah party if they went ahead with plans to join the Hamas-led government. "The US apparently doesn't understand that a national unity government with Hamas is the best solution to the current crisis in the Palestinian Authority," he added.


The President has won. Even if it's a messy he's never had trouble accepting that sort of victory in the past.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 20, 2006 12:09 AM
Comments

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will tell US President George W. Bush on Wednesday that the proposed Palestinian unity government will recognize Israel's right to exist..

"Will tell President Bush" implies taqiyaa. Arafat regularly said one thing in English and another in Arabic.

Posted by: Gideon at September 20, 2006 12:33 AM

In writing in Arabic and announced in the arab world.

Posted by: Sandy P at September 20, 2006 12:55 AM

And with an official change to the Hamas charter, deleting all the "death to Israel" clauses. Chances that all of this will happen and that the "winner" Abbas will be in power (or even alive) a year from now? Slim.

Posted by: PapayaSF at September 20, 2006 1:07 AM

The Charter doesn't matter. The fact is, as any idiot could have predicted, democratic realkities are forcingg Hamas to moderate. Palestinians want better lives, not territory.

Posted by: oj at September 20, 2006 9:21 AM

"Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will tell US President George W. Bush on Wednesday that the proposed Palestinian unity government will recognize Israel's right to exist and previous agreements between the PLO and Israel," PA officials told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

This is truly fantastic news. A tremendous breakthrough.

But....there are only two problems. The first one is that there won't be any Palestinian unity government. The second one is that it won't recognize Israel's right to exist.

(There may several other problems. Those PA officials speaking to the Jerusalem Post might not really have been official officials, or they may have been not quite "understood"; or Abbas might not quite make it to Washington D.C.; or Abbas might not really be Abbas; or George Bush might not really be George Bush....)

Still, this is truly fantastic news.

Posted by: Barry Meislin at September 20, 2006 10:53 AM

wanna bet?

Posted by: oj at September 20, 2006 10:58 AM

Still a few holdouts on the plan.

That doesn't mean Haniyeh might not just be saying something in order to gain some points on Abbas in the Palestinians pecking order that he later can't back up, but as of now Abbas has shown a lack of strength in being able to control the more boisterous hard-liners in his coalition.

Posted by: John at September 20, 2006 11:21 AM

If Abbas (the PLO) were strong he wouldn't need a coalition to begin with.

Posted by: oj at September 20, 2006 11:34 AM

That he's saying different things is easy to determine. There are people in Israel who speak Arabic, so we can wait for their confirmation that Arras isn't saying something different.

The problem is that he may very well be lying in two languages.

Posted by: erp at September 20, 2006 5:11 PM

Lying creates reality.

Posted by: oj at September 20, 2006 5:58 PM

If Bush says it in English to the world, it doesn't matter what Abbas (or Haniyeh) says in Arabic. If either one crosses the President, then they will be treated like Arafat, except that Israelis probably wouldn't hesitate to kill Haniyeh. Eventually, bush can pare it down for them - "The Palestinian people deserve better leadership, and I will work for them to get it".

Of course, if some Paly nutjobs (or Al Qaeda in Gaza) start killing Americans in Israel, then the US will have to start launching their own missile strikes.

Posted by: jim hamlen at September 20, 2006 9:40 PM
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