If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
King Abdullah has frequently gone out of his way to assert that "Jordan is Jordan" and "Palestine is Palestine." He has also encouraged Hamas to dispel the possibility of Jordan serving as a substitute homeland.
It is time for Hamas to realize that it holds the key to the future of its own people. Israelis will not move towards peace as long as Hamas, a central player and crucial part of Palestinian society will not endorse peace explicitly.
While the agreement in Doha was not the first public display of reconciliation between leaders of the largest Palestinian factions, many felt that this time, the agreement was for real. Why?
If anything, recent months saw Hamas move much more to the political center, accepting de facto an Israel based on the 1967 borders and agreeing to reach that goal through "popular struggle" rather than "military means."
Perhaps the true reason behind Hamas' new pragmatism is the realization that Gazans and West Bankers could mimic Arab Spring protestors and channel their rage against Palestinian leaders if they fail to deliver change.
Whoever agrees that the preferred solution to the conflict are two-states-for-two-peoples needs to realize that this possibility to implement is gradually slipping away while no progress, however small or incremental, is being made.
I sat down with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the The Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee and discussed the PLO's strategies for 2012.
Today, the focus on Gaza is on the economic situation, not on Hamas' rejection of Israel's right to exist or its refusal to release captured Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit.
Considering the sweeping changes across the Middle East and the rising din of the popular voice of nonviolent resistance, the United States may be forced to confront the Israeli government with a stark choice.
The overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak was driven by Egypt's domestic troubles -- in particular its lack of political freedom and economic opportunity which must be systematically addressed albeit for years to come.
President Barack Obama's back-to-back speeches on the peace process had much good to build on. Now is the time to start building.
How can so many reasonable minds welcome the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas as good news, a good sign, like the far too long delayed reunion of a too long divided people, when it is, in reality, a catastrophe?
The big debate about the Fatah-Hamas unity agreement of earlier this month is whether it will increase the chances of Israeli-Palestinian peace, or weaken them.
The reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas -- should it withstand the test of time -- offers Israel and Hamas the opportunity to face what they have denied each other for nearly three decades.
Now is the time -- if there ever was one -- for Hamas to work as a government, not a terrorist entity. They must sit with Fatah and together show that they can be partners for peace.
One path for the Palestinians leads to a serious opportunity to create a successful state for the Palestinian people. The other path leads to destroying any present hope for a viable Palestinian state. The choice lies in their hands.
