Palestinians Heal Rift, Israeli Hawks Spoil Peace

"Palestinian Rivals Announce Steps Toward Healing Rift"
A12, Friday 2/27/09,
By Taghreed El-Khodary and Isabel Kershner

Palestinian officials announcing “the establishment of committees to find formulas for a Palestinian unity government” (emphasis added) should be a news brief.

While a “narrow, hawkish” Israeli government is “unlikely to subscribe to the same peacemaking principles” as the U.S., nothing is written of a prospective Hamas-Fatah unity government, which is profoundly – and what should be obviously – more inflexible toward the concept of a two-state solution. A PA unity government is also the stated focus of this article, yet was passed over on the Times’ tried and true two-state test. A government that is avowedly - in their own ways - anti-Israel and committed to its demise is passed over for Israelis, hawkish Israelis.

This ill-conceived division of dovish Israelis and hawkish Israelis may seem like and informed view at the Times. In the Mideast, though, almost all view all Israelis - Netanyahu, Livni, Barak, even Beilin, has hawkish. Those that don't are those who understand and oppose the war against Israel. They rightly see Israelis as - if anything, dovish.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, and that government was boycotted by Israel and the West.”

This usual insipid description, with a twist. A more complete sentence would’ve ended “by Israel and the West….after rejecting three international demands…”

“Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas official, said not all the issues would have to be resolved simultaneously, indicating a new degree of flexibility.” (emphasis added) Regardless of Hamas actually ever stating that all the issues with Fatah would have to be solved simultaneously, Hamas is reported to be more flexible, which could lead readers to conclude that it is moderating. Flexibility and moderation toward Israel isn't far off, in this alternate reality.

Fatah is labeled the “mainstream” PA government. A new euphemism for “moderate,” the term mainstream is inaccurate. Wouldn’t Hamas receiving more votes than Fatah in the last election make Hamas more mainstream? Why is the mainstream stamp of approval reserved only for Fatah? Perhaps the Times fears readers wouldn’t understand the nuance they find in the extremism of Palestinian voters.