by Editors of America, the National Catholic Review
Depending on whom you ask, the agreement between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to form a unity government represents either a crucial step toward a two-state solution or the death knell for the moribund peace process. Israel suspended negotiations after the deal was announced on April 23, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he must choose between reconciliation with Hamas and peace with Israel: “Only one is attainable.”
Depending on whom you ask, the agreement between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to form a unity government represents either a crucial step toward a two-state solution or the death knell for the moribund peace process. Israel suspended negotiations after the deal was announced on April 23, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he must choose between reconciliation with Hamas and peace with Israel: “Only one is attainable.”
Mr. Abbas insists he can have both, and indeed that Middle East peace requires Palestinian unity. Several Christian leaders in the Holy Land have echoed that sentiment. Israel is understandably unenthusiastic about the prospect of working with Hamas, a militant Islamic organization that has called for the Jewish state’s destruction and carried out attacks against Israeli civilians. Seeking to placate Israeli and American concerns, a senior Fatah official said that “the reconciliation with Hamas is based on the two-state solution and the 1967 borders. Hamas also accepts all the conditions set by the international community.” Those conditions include recognizing Israel, denouncing violence and honoring past agreements. It is up to Hamas to back up these words.
If the parties follow through on the new pact, Fatah and Hamas will create an independent technocratic government within five weeks and hold elections in six months. That is a big if; two nearly identical unity agreements have collapsed since 2006. But the United States should not encourage the premature demise of this latest attempt by cutting off the $500 million of aid it provides to the Palestinian Authority, which one U.S. official has already threatened as a possible course of action. While the political reconciliation may interfere with the latest round of talks, the peace process has weathered worse. In the long run, Israel also must choose: peace with one Palestine, or no peace at all.
America is a Catholic media ministry that interprets the Church for the world and the world for the Church. It is a forum for discussion of religion, society, politics and culture from a Catholic perspective. The Ignatian traditions of "finding God in all things" and the promotion of justice shape our commentary. Founded in 1909 by the Jesuit order and directed today by Jesuits and lay colleagues, America is a resource for spiritual renewal and social analysis guided by the spirit of charity.
Source: http://americamagazine.org/issue/current-comment-45
America is a Catholic media ministry that interprets the Church for the world and the world for the Church. It is a forum for discussion of religion, society, politics and culture from a Catholic perspective. The Ignatian traditions of "finding God in all things" and the promotion of justice shape our commentary. Founded in 1909 by the Jesuit order and directed today by Jesuits and lay colleagues, America is a resource for spiritual renewal and social analysis guided by the spirit of charity.
Source: http://americamagazine.org/issue/current-comment-45
No comments:
Post a Comment