Israel Matzav

Fatah is no better than Hamas

... Barghouti is not first on the list because his popularity forced a reluctant Abbas to accept him, but because Abbas deliberately decided to head the list with someone convicted of murdering Israelis. And whether he did so because he personally admires such killers or merely because he deemed this necessary to win votes makes little difference in terms of the prospects for peace: Even if Abbas personally wants to end the conflict, that is unlikely to happen if the Palestinian public prefers terrorism.

...

Only last week, after Israel decided to try to protect its southern towns itself by using air force and artillery to turn popular launch sites into "no-go zones," did Abbas finally move - not against the terrorists, but against Israel. Declaring that Israel "has no right to return [to Gaza] under any pretext, including the firing of rockets," he began trying to mobilize international pressure against the Israeli operation.

In other words, Abbas will not lift a finger against terrorism himself - but he will do his best to stymie any Israeli countermeasures, thereby facilitating the terrorists' operations.

Given this picture, one has to wonder why Fatah should be considered better than Hamas. Granted, Fatah does not openly call for Israel's destruction - but that merely makes the world more willing to overlook its members' involvement in, advocacy of and facilitation of terrorism, and to pressure Israel to do the same. That is hardly to Israel's benefit. Yet incredibly, Israel has actively promoted a Fatah victory - even to the point of allowing Barghouti to campaign from his jail cell.

It would be far better for Israel, and the world, to finally acknowledge reality: Secular terrorists are no better than the Islamist kind - and Fatah, in its current incarnation, is no more of a peace partner than Hamas.

Read it all.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:44 AM