Zal Obama Palestijnse eenheidsregering met Hamas erkennen?

 

Hamas zal nooit instemmen met een eenheidsregering die Israel erkent en het geweld afzweert. Waarom Obama de wet wil aanpassen is niet helemaal duidelijk. Het is wellicht de enige manier om te zorgen dat Amerikaans hulpgeld Gaza kan bereiken, en hij hoopt dat dat ook onder een regering waarin Hamas is vertegenwoordigd, vooral de bevolking zal bereiken en niet Hamas ten goede komen. Dat lijkt me niet erg realistisch. Ondertussen is het nog maar de vraag of er binnenkort een eenheidsregering komt.

 

RP

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Is the US preparing to sell out to Hamas?

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/04/is-us-preparing-to-sell-out-to-hamas.html

The US government is reportedly trying to loosen restrictions on aid money so it can aid a Palestinian government that includes the Hamas terrorist group. Israeli consternation was met by ominous doubletalk:

Officials in Jerusalem were surprised by a report in the L.A. Times Monday that the Obama administration has asked Congress to amend U.S. law to enable the Palestinian Authority to receive federal aid even if Hamas joins a unity coalition.

 

"Every step that strengthens Hamas only distances peace. In the event that the report is true, it is painful and worrying," a political source in Jerusalem said Monday.

 

Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces in a bloody 2007 coup, has been deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. and therefore cannot not legally receive U.S. government aid.
 
Israeli officials are still attempting to ascertain the intentions of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration. Initial messages relayed to Jerusalem from Washington said there would be no change in policy, only a change in the language used with reference to a Palestinian unity government.

Hamas does not recognize the right of Israel to exist. Actually that's an understatement. Hamas insists that their mission is to murder all the Jews, who are guilty, among other crimes, of starting the French Revolution and the Soviet Revolution. Hamas  seized power from Fatah in Gaza in a bloody coup, taking from Fatah all the US military equipment that had been supplied to them. Aid money to Hamas would be used to entrench their rule in Gaza and import weapons. The US had promised that no aid voted for reconstruction of Gaza would go to the Palestinians unless and untill Hamas changed its ways. Why was the promise made if there was no intention to keep it? Why is it necessary to change the language if there is no change in policy?   What does it mean: "A change in language, but not a change in policy?" Mr. President, do they get the money or don't they get the money? Never mind the language!

 

The plot thickens - because Mahmoud Abbas said that the organizations that compose a unity government do not have to accept the principles of that government - such as recognition of Israel.

Alluding to the dispute over whether the Palestinian government should recognize Israel and abide by past Palestinian agreements, Abbas noted that "forces don't need to accept what the government accepts, and we say that the government has to accept the international legitimacy."

A mean battle may be shaping up, or it may be yet another tempest in a teapot.

 

Ami Isseroff  

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Obama admin wants to aid PA government even if it includes Hamas

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/04/obama-admin-wants-to-aid-pa-government.html

Here are some famous last words:

Clinton has defended the proposal, saying that the U.S. has continued to fund other governments in which designated terror groups are represented, including the Lebanese government which includes officials from the Hezbollah militant organization

Indeed. And what will the U.S. do if, after the upcoming elections in Lebanon, all the military equipment it has given Lebanon is controlled by the Hezbollah?

 

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Last update - 11:03 27/04/2009       
'Obama wants aid to go to PA even if Hamas joins government'
By Haaretz Service

 

 

The Obama administration has asked Congress to amend U.S. law to enable the Palestinians to receive federal aid even if it forms a unity coalition with Hamas, the L.A. Times reported on Monday.

 

Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces in a bloody 2007 coup, has been deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. and therefore cannot not legally receive U.S. government aid.

 

The U.S. has presented an $830.4-billion emergency spending bill, comprising funding for its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill would also allocate $840 million to the Palestinian Authority and for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip following Israel's three-week offensive there earlier this year.
 
Because none of the Gaza aid can legally reach Hamas, it will be difficult to ensure its delivery to the coastal territory.

 

The U.S. has refused to grant aid to Hamas unless the group agrees to recognize Israel, renounce violence and agreeing to follow past accords secured between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

 

The administration's request for the minor changes to aid measures is unlikely to come into fruition, as no concrete plans are yet underway for a Palestinian unity government. Reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah have been ongoing, but have so far yielded no results.

 

Still, the move has stirred controversy among pro-Israel U.S. officials, according to the L.A. Times.

 

Republican Representative Mark Steven Kirk told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a House hearing last week that the proposal was tantamount to supporting a government with "only has a few Nazis in it," the L.A. Times said.

 

Democratic Representative Adam B. Schiff called the proposal "completely unworkable," even if Hamas were to agree to abide by the U.S.' preconditions, according to the L.A. Times.

 

"You couldn't have the leadership of a terrorist organization pick the ministers in the government, with the power to appoint and withdraw them, and answering to them," the L.A. Times quoted him as saying.

 

Clinton has defended the proposal, saying that the U.S. has continued to fund other governments in which designated terror groups are represented, including the Lebanese government which includes officials from the Hezbollah militant organization.

 

The secretary of state urged the government to work to change the attitudes of Hamas, rather than cutting of all possibility of dealing with them should they join the ruling Palestinian coalition.

 

"We don't want to . . . bind our hands in the event that such an agreement is reached, and the government that they are part of agrees to our principles," she said.