Well, the Annapolis peace conference is pretty much over, and many people -- especially the Boston Globe -- are rushing to embrace hope. The Globe was so excited, they published two pieces touting it.
This, optimism is delightful. It flies in the face of reality, but it's delightful nonetheless.
In all the hype over the conference, nobody wants to discuss some rather inconvenient realities -- the "camel in the room," so to speak.
Among the attendees was NOT any representatives of Hamas.
Hamas is the dominant party in Palestinian politics. They swept the last elections, and the current Fatah Prime Minister -- Abbas -- continues to allegedly "govern" only as a fig leaf.
No peace agreement means a damned thing unless Hamas signs on -- and abides by it.
Hamas not only boycotted the conference, but held violent protests denouncing it.
And Hamas' own charter says that they will never negotiate in good faith. Read Article 13 -- here are a few excerpts:
"Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement."
"Now and then the call goes out for the convening of an international conference to look for ways of solving the (Palestinian) question. Some accept, others reject the idea, for this or other reason, with one stipulation or more for consent to convening the conference and participating in it. Knowing the parties constituting the conference, their past and present attitudes towards Moslem problems, the Islamic Resistance Movement does not consider these conferences capable of realising the demands, restoring the rights or doing justice to the oppressed. These conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as arbitraters."
"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."
This is not some campaign platform, this is Hamas' charter -- their equivalent of a Constitution.
I have no idea what anyone involved in the Annapolis silliness hoped to achieve. It wasn't even good farce.
And these days, a wry, cynical laugh is the best we can hope for out of these "peace conferences."
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Comments (3)
...the Islamic Resistanc... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Oyster | November 30, 2007 3:10 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
...the Islamic Resistance Movement does not consider these conferences capable of realising the demands, restoring the rights or doing justice to the oppressed."
That's right dammit! We'll do the oppressing around these parts!
Amazing how some people have optimism for the Israeli/Palestinian issue ...
... but they think Iraq can't possibly achieve anything of merit.
1. Posted by Oyster | November 30, 2007 3:10 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on November 30, 2007 15:10
2. Posted by Knightbrigade | November 30, 2007 8:45 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
So this was basically a sit around the camp fire to spin fantasy and tell feel good stories event.
At least we can say WE tried *chuckle* before Israel is forced to light up the region...
2. Posted by Knightbrigade | November 30, 2007 8:45 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 30, 2007 20:45
3. Posted by epador | December 1, 2007 10:28 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It seems, at least from the BBC and similar reports I've heard, this was mainly an opportunity for the Arabs to spout propaganda (quickly sucked up by the pro-Palestinian media) about their serious commitment to a peace process, that is as soon as the US and Israel stop their hate and war-mongering ways.
3. Posted by epador | December 1, 2007 10:28 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 1, 2007 10:28