Even worse than the failure to forecast the rise of the Hamas, was the apparent failure of just about everyone to foresee even the possibility that the Hamas would take power, and to safeguard the various agreements against this eventuality.

If I am not greatly mistaken, when the Hamas representatives took their oath of office and the Hamas led Palestinian Legislative Council inaugurated its first session, the peace process and the road map formally came to an end, regardless of any declarations by Mahmoud Abbas. If not then, then when the government of Hanniyeh is sworn in. The peace process was predicated on the notion that the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist, and Israel recognizes the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority was formed, according to the Oslo Interim Agreement, to negotiate a final peace peace settlement. Hamas, has stipulated explicitly that it will never recognize Israel and will not negotiate peace with Israel. At most, the "moderates" propose to negotiate a "truce" agreement, in which Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories and agrees to let the Hamas build an army and educate more Palestinians to hate Israel. In return for that, the Hamas will continue to insist that all of Israel is "Palestine" and belongs to the Muslims, but they will not try to destroy Israel until they are certain they can do it. That doesn't sound like a good deal to me. [more]

by Moderator @ 04:44 PM CST [Link]