Israel Matzav

Ooops! It was a mixup!

Earlier today, it was reported that the 'good terrorists' from the 'moderate' Fatah movement had signed an agreement to hold discussions on a unity government with the 'bad terrorists' from Hamas. Here's the video report:



You will note that at the end of the report, Margot Dudkevich says that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen was 'upset' that he was not 'informed' of what was going on in Sana'a, Yemen. The real reason Abu was upset was not because he wasn't 'informed' but because the US State Department was not pleased.

Asked whether the US supports the Yemeni mediation effort to bridge differences between Hamas and Fatah, a senior administration official said that the United States has made it clear that it will not support working with Hamas unless there is a fundamental change in the group's current role, which the US describes as terrorist.

Israel has been conducting peace talks with PA President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah-led government in the West Bank, while simultaneously battling Hamas in Gaza. An Israeli official said a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas would mean the end of peace talks.

"The Fatah leadership has to make a choice," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "They can have a peace process and dialogue with Israel or a coalition with Hamas. But it's clear that you can't have them both."

That's a choice that the Fatah leadership has been avoiding (not that it really matters - they're both terror groups - but the US and Israel keep insisting on pretending that it matters).

Now Abu Mazen's chief negotiator Ahamd Qrei Abu Ala is insisting that the agreement that was signed in Yemen was a 'mixup.'

Abbas has said repeatedly that he would not negotiate a new power-sharing deal with Hamas unless it first steps aside in Gaza. Despite Hamas' refusal to do so, Abbas sent a representative, former Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed, to Yemen to explore the reconciliation proposal - apparently to avoid being seen as inflexible on trying to mend the deep internal Palestinian rift.

On Sunday, al-Ahmed and a senior Hamas representative, Moussa Abu Marzouk, signed a declaration that both accept a Yemeni initiative calling for the creation of a national unity government and the rebuilding of security forces loyal to that government instead of factions.

A senior Abbas confidant, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, said Monday that al-Ahmed signed because of a mixup. Al-Ahmed called Abbas' office repeatedly to get guidance, but Abbas was meeting at the time with US Vice President Dick Cheney, and al-Ahmed went ahead and signed, Qureia said.

"There was a misunderstanding," Qurei told reporters Monday. "President Abbas was busy hosting Cheney, and Azzam tried many times to contact him (Abbas), but couldn't reach him. The talks were at the end, and time was pressing."

Other senior Abbas aides said al-Ahmed should not have signed the agreement.

Well, did Al-Ahmed have authority to sign or not? And if he didn't, what was he doing in Yemen in the first place negotiating on Fatah's behalf?

But the bigger issue is why Abu Mazen can't be honest with his 'people' and tell them that Hamas isn't going to be part of the picture. The answer to that question is actually quite simple: Because Abu Mazen has almost no popular support and he knows it. If he actually tells his 'people' the truth, he could be assassinated. And the goal of all 'Palestinian' negotiations is to keep Abu Mazen alive and kicking. After all, you don't expect Abu Mazen to sacrifice his life for his 'people' do you? Only a fool suicide bomber would do that.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:25 PM