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179135
Sun, 05/01/2011 - 12:33
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https://oananews.org//node/179135
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UAE newspapers welcome Palestinian deal, lambast Israeli response
Three UAE English language dailies welcomed the deal made Wednesday in Cairo between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, lambasting the Israeli response to the agreement.
"The Palestinian Authority has to decide on having peace with Israel or peace with Hamas," the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared in response to the preliminary accord inked in Cairo. "You can't have peace with both," the Abu Dhabi-based The National said in its editorial.
The paper described the statement made by Israeli Prime Minister about the deal as "both absurd and disingenuous." "Absurd, because no lasting peace with the Palestinians can exclude Hamas and its supporters. If only a fraction of the Palestinian leadership strikes a deal with Israel, it is not a two-state solution, but an agreement to be co-opted. Mr Netanyahu's government has consistently driven a wedge between Palestinian factions with just this goal in mind." "If Palestinian leaders on both sides can hold to their word and this unity deal moves forward, they will have stripped Israel of its pretence. The refusal to negotiate with Hamas is an old line, an attempt to portray the entire party, which won the 2006 elections, as intractable enemies and its supporters as terrorists."
The paper said that elements of Hamas that remain committed to violence will be a test of this unity accord, not to mention the party's own viability, but Israel's assertions are demonstrably false. It sets the precondition to negotiations that Hamas recognise Israel's right to exist; the party officially refuses to do so, but before the stranglehold blockade of the Gaza Strip, its political leader Khalid Meshaal had offered Israel a 10-year truce. "The problem is not that there is an entity called Israel," Mr Meshaal told Reuters in 1997. "The problem is that the Palestinian state is non-existent." "Only if Hamas stands separate from the Palestinian Authority, the "legitimate" Palestinians, can Israel pretend it wants peace while it is working against it. Israel's allies in Washington must also realise this self-deception serves no one." The paper warned that Wednesday's deal in Cairo was still a fragile enterprise that either Fatah or Hamas could torpedo with a word. It is also the only way forward towards a unified Palestinian state. When Israel realises that this is in its interests, there will be a chance for peace.
The Dubai-based Gulf News said this significant development has to be viewed within the context of the recent Arab revolutions, including large protests in Palestine itself last month. Leaders in both Hamas and Fatah rightly predicted that with the new Arab order, it would be very unwise to ignore the Palestinian youth's demand for reconciliation and elections. And it is very unlikely that this would have happened under Egypt's old regime and with figures like former intelligence chief Omar Sulaiman, who tried unsuccessfully to bridge a split between the two groups.
"The new Egypt was able to provide the right setting for both sides and avoided piling the pressure on Hamas in particular to agree to rigid terms, as was the case in the past. That Hamas and Fatah managed to confront their differences and resolve all their issues allows for a new phase of Palestinian politics that will bring back the focus on ending Israel's occupation and the Palestinian campaign for statehood." The paper urged the international community, starting with the US and the EU, to congratulate the Palestinians for reaching this agreement and recognise the importance of political unity for the sake of peace and stability.
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who more or less condemned this positive breakthrough and cautioned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he must choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas, should be singled out for his ridiculous position. Israel should stay out of internal Palestinian matters and focus instead on whether or not it can choose a just peace with Palestinians over its illegal colony activities among other things."
The Sharjah-based The Gulf Today said the understanding reached between Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah to set up a transitional unity government and hold elections is a much awaited move, adding that here cannot be any realistic move towards a solution to the Palestinian problem without Palestinian unity and a single Palestinian platform.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas "choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas." It said: "Predictably, the Palestinians have told Netanyahu that he has to choose between peace and Israeli settlements in the occupied territories." The paper said Palestinians should give little heed to what Israel has to say about their internal moves. Their first priority to unite their ranks and reach agreement among themselves on how to go about realising their dream of independent statehood. "At this point in time, the Palestinians should not worry about peace negotiations with Israel since it is clear that the process would be meaningless as long as the Jewish state maintains its position."
The agreement for Palestinian unity comes ahead of Abbas's quest for international recognition of Palestinian statehood in September. Israel is worried that the UN General Assembly will accept the State of Palestine as a member. Netanyahu and his hawkish camp ruling Israel could be expected to torpedo the move and that means also undermining the Palestinian reconciliation agreement. Israel has at its disposal many means to do that, including engineering a new round of violence. It could resort to deception and provoke new conflicts within the Palestinian ranks.
"The Palestinian leaders, including those of Fatah, Hamas and all others under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, should deal with each other in absolute transparency for the sake of their cause. They should not allow any external force to dissuade from their committed to march towards their goal. They should exercise their options as a liberation movement that would not be swayed by any consideration other than their legitimate rights and the means to realise them," it concluded. - Emirates News Agency, WAM
"The Palestinian Authority has to decide on having peace with Israel or peace with Hamas," the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared in response to the preliminary accord inked in Cairo. "You can't have peace with both," the Abu Dhabi-based The National said in its editorial.
The paper described the statement made by Israeli Prime Minister about the deal as "both absurd and disingenuous." "Absurd, because no lasting peace with the Palestinians can exclude Hamas and its supporters. If only a fraction of the Palestinian leadership strikes a deal with Israel, it is not a two-state solution, but an agreement to be co-opted. Mr Netanyahu's government has consistently driven a wedge between Palestinian factions with just this goal in mind." "If Palestinian leaders on both sides can hold to their word and this unity deal moves forward, they will have stripped Israel of its pretence. The refusal to negotiate with Hamas is an old line, an attempt to portray the entire party, which won the 2006 elections, as intractable enemies and its supporters as terrorists."
The paper said that elements of Hamas that remain committed to violence will be a test of this unity accord, not to mention the party's own viability, but Israel's assertions are demonstrably false. It sets the precondition to negotiations that Hamas recognise Israel's right to exist; the party officially refuses to do so, but before the stranglehold blockade of the Gaza Strip, its political leader Khalid Meshaal had offered Israel a 10-year truce. "The problem is not that there is an entity called Israel," Mr Meshaal told Reuters in 1997. "The problem is that the Palestinian state is non-existent." "Only if Hamas stands separate from the Palestinian Authority, the "legitimate" Palestinians, can Israel pretend it wants peace while it is working against it. Israel's allies in Washington must also realise this self-deception serves no one." The paper warned that Wednesday's deal in Cairo was still a fragile enterprise that either Fatah or Hamas could torpedo with a word. It is also the only way forward towards a unified Palestinian state. When Israel realises that this is in its interests, there will be a chance for peace.
The Dubai-based Gulf News said this significant development has to be viewed within the context of the recent Arab revolutions, including large protests in Palestine itself last month. Leaders in both Hamas and Fatah rightly predicted that with the new Arab order, it would be very unwise to ignore the Palestinian youth's demand for reconciliation and elections. And it is very unlikely that this would have happened under Egypt's old regime and with figures like former intelligence chief Omar Sulaiman, who tried unsuccessfully to bridge a split between the two groups.
"The new Egypt was able to provide the right setting for both sides and avoided piling the pressure on Hamas in particular to agree to rigid terms, as was the case in the past. That Hamas and Fatah managed to confront their differences and resolve all their issues allows for a new phase of Palestinian politics that will bring back the focus on ending Israel's occupation and the Palestinian campaign for statehood." The paper urged the international community, starting with the US and the EU, to congratulate the Palestinians for reaching this agreement and recognise the importance of political unity for the sake of peace and stability.
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who more or less condemned this positive breakthrough and cautioned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he must choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas, should be singled out for his ridiculous position. Israel should stay out of internal Palestinian matters and focus instead on whether or not it can choose a just peace with Palestinians over its illegal colony activities among other things."
The Sharjah-based The Gulf Today said the understanding reached between Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah to set up a transitional unity government and hold elections is a much awaited move, adding that here cannot be any realistic move towards a solution to the Palestinian problem without Palestinian unity and a single Palestinian platform.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas "choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas." It said: "Predictably, the Palestinians have told Netanyahu that he has to choose between peace and Israeli settlements in the occupied territories." The paper said Palestinians should give little heed to what Israel has to say about their internal moves. Their first priority to unite their ranks and reach agreement among themselves on how to go about realising their dream of independent statehood. "At this point in time, the Palestinians should not worry about peace negotiations with Israel since it is clear that the process would be meaningless as long as the Jewish state maintains its position."
The agreement for Palestinian unity comes ahead of Abbas's quest for international recognition of Palestinian statehood in September. Israel is worried that the UN General Assembly will accept the State of Palestine as a member. Netanyahu and his hawkish camp ruling Israel could be expected to torpedo the move and that means also undermining the Palestinian reconciliation agreement. Israel has at its disposal many means to do that, including engineering a new round of violence. It could resort to deception and provoke new conflicts within the Palestinian ranks.
"The Palestinian leaders, including those of Fatah, Hamas and all others under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, should deal with each other in absolute transparency for the sake of their cause. They should not allow any external force to dissuade from their committed to march towards their goal. They should exercise their options as a liberation movement that would not be swayed by any consideration other than their legitimate rights and the means to realise them," it concluded. - Emirates News Agency, WAM
