At The Huffington Post, Alon Ben-Meir argues for the inclusion of Hamas in the current negotiations toward peace:
“The negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority can potentially succeed, but such a success cannot be sustained unless Hamas is brought into the political process in some capacity. Concessions made or breakthroughs achieved must represent the majority of the electorates, as there can be no lasting peaceful solution without recreating a unified Palestinian polity in the West Bank and Gaza. The Arab states should therefore heed President Obama’s call to meaningfully contribute to the peace process by pressing Hamas to renounce violence and accept the principles of the Arab Peace Initiative as a common frame of reference for advancing Palestinian unity and a comprehensive resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Israel must accept that Hamas is a reality, which it cannot simply wish away. Hamas’ participation is essential, not only because it is in control of Gaza, but also because it represents a disciplined grassroots movement with a substantial social, political and security apparatus. To be sure, Hamas is a radical militant organization, yet it wields too much influence over its followers—and over the Gaza Strip—to be discounted. While Israel will continue to defend its citizens, Hamas—as an ideology—cannot be removed completely by military force, and ignoring Hamas has not been a successful strategy to marginalize it. Thus far, Hamas’ political participation has been conditional upon its acceptance of the Quartet’s three conditions: recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and accept prior Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Hamas’ leadership has refused to do so and is unlikely to comply any time soon, perhaps with the exception of adhering to a non-violent atmosphere.”
The rest of this surprisingly sensible essay, “Hamas Must Play a Role in the Two-State Solution,” is here.
Negotiating without Hamas is doomed to failure. You can read Elliot Jager's take on this at http://www.jidaily.com/oQDiT
Posted by: Jewish Ideas Daily | 09/21/2010 at 05:40 AM