HAMAS ISN'T THE PROBLEM:

U.S.-Europe Rift Looms on Hamas Aid (Ori Nir, May 5, 2006, The Forward)

With the Palestinian Authority facing bankruptcy and unable to pay salaries to government employees, Hamas is quietly seeking ways to form a unity coalition with its top political foe, the secularist Fatah faction, the Forward has learned. In what some observers see as another sign of economic desperation, Hamas — which has been losing support in Palestinian opinion polls — has indicated a willingness to allow international third parties to pay P.A. employees directly, though the Islamic movement probably would win less credit from the public under such an arrangement.

Hamas also appears to be searching for ways to satisfy international demands that it recognize Israel and disavow terrorism — two steps that it adamantly has refused to take. On Tuesday, a top Hamas official said that the Islamic movement is ready to consider a 2002 Arab League-backed peace plan calling for recognition of Israel in exchange for a complete pullout from Gaza and the West Bank.

In talks with foreign diplomats, the Bush administration has been hailing the recent developments as proof that the strategy of isolating and boycotting the Hamas government is working. But diplomats in Washington say that the united front against Hamas could fall apart over a French proposal — opposed by the Bush administration — to have the European Union set up a fund that the World Bank would manage and use to pay the salaries of the P.A.'s 160,000 civil servants.

The American-French disagreement underscores what some diplomats see as a deeper divide.

If you don't recognize that France is an enemy you haven't been paying attention.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 5, 2006 5:42 PM