Israel Matzav

Hamas and Fatah holding talks

Hamas and Fatah are holding talks in Dakkar over the weekend, continuing on 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's call for 'dialogue' earlier this week.

Abbas's surprise move is seen by some Palestinian political analysts in Ramallah as an expression of his disappointment with the lack of progress in the peace talks with Israel.

One analyst said that Abbas and his aides have reached the conclusion that the peace talks are going nowhere and that the US does not want to exert pressure on Israel to soften its position, especially with regards to crucial issues like settlements, Jerusalem, borders and refugees.

"The Palestinian leadership is very disappointed," the Ramallah-based analyst told the Post. "They are disappointed with the Israelis and the Americans."

Another analyst said he did not rule out the possibility that Abbas's decision to launch unconditional talks with Hamas was only aimed at sending a message to the Americans and the Israelis. "Abbas is telling the Israelis and Americans, 'You either give me everything I want or I will go to Hamas.' He's hoping to put pressure on them by seeking rapprochement with Hamas."

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior PLO official closely associated with Abbas, said Abbas's call for national dialogue was aimed at paving the way for Hamas to end its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

"The first step Hamas must take is [to] end the coup," he said.

"We will study with all the Palestinian factions and Arab brothers ways of implementing the Yemeni plan, which calls for ending the coup in the Gaza Strip."

Abed Rabbo confirmed that Abbas was planning to visit Syria soon, but did not say whether the PA president would meet with Mashaal.

He pointed out that Abbas was also planning to visit several other Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algiers and some Gulf states to seek their backing for his efforts to end the Fatah-Hamas dispute.

Ahmed Yusef, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, hailed Abbas's initiative as a wise and rational move and invited him to visit the Gaza Strip. He said Hamas had warned Abbas in the past against relying only on the Americans to gain concessions from Israel.

"The Palestinian reality requires that we maintain the resistance and its weapons," he was quoted by the Bethlehem-based Maan news agency as saying. "That's because our enemy only understands the language of force. Negotiations alone won't retrieve the rights of the Palestinians."

For $7.4 billion.... But the State Department can't see this as having changed anything. And maybe it hasn't. Abu Mazen's priority all along has been avoiding fights among the 'Palestinian people.' He always wanted to make 'peace' with Hamas much more than he wanted to make 'peace' with Israel.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:48 PM