Saturday, May 19, 2007

Pieces of Paper or Pounds of Flesh?

Hamas and Fatah have claimed that they've reached yet another ceasefire agreement that would stop the fighting that has claimed dozens of Palestinian lives and turned Gaza into a shooting gallery. Ha! Fighting continues unabated. A convoy carrying Abbas' senior intelligence aide Mohammad al-Masri of Fatah was hit by gunfire. Dollars to donuts it was Hamas behind the attack. No injuries were reported in that incident.

Meanwhile, kassam rockets continue to hit Sderot, with three hitting the beleaguered Israeli city. Injuries have been reported as well.

There are reports that Israel may be willing to consider aiding Fatah. Why? Fatah is no better than Hamas and seeks Israel's destruction just as surely as Fatah does, but is willing to kill Israelis with thousands of paper cuts. It's a distinction without a difference as Fatah has never lived up to its obligations under Oslo or other agreements to crack down on terrorists and the al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade is a Fatah operation responsible for Israeli deaths.

Are Israeli leaders so desperate to make a deal that they'd be willing to make a bad one for the sake of saying that they've made a deal? Diplomacy of this kind is doomed to fail because both sides do not have anything in common.

Yet, Israel is targeting Hamas facilities throughout Gaza, which indirectly assists Fatah, which lacks the resources to do so. Israel has good reason to go after Hamas, which openly calls for Israel's destruction and refuses to recognize any prior agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel (including Oslo).

UN officials are concerned that the fighting may hurt aid to the PA. Sorry, but the aid should be cut off to the PA because it does not go to help the Palestinian people but rather goes to fund the fighting or line the pockets of the terrorists in charge.

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