Al Fatah and Hamas agree to form unity government in Palestine

[Kuya]

Fatah, the Palestinian political organisation, has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for a general election, Egyptian intelligence has said.

In February, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, called for presidential and legislative elections before September, in a move which was rejected by Hamas at the time.

"The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement on Wednesday.

The deal, which took many officials by surprise, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings.

"The two sides signed initial letters on an agreement. All points of differences have been overcome," Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas government spokesman in Gaza, told the Reuters news agency.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said: "It is important news ... the geopolitical situation wasn't exactly helpful [to reconciliation] and then we went through six months of upheavals, certainly sweeping through Egypt.

"At the end, you could say that President Abbas has lost his patron in Egypt, which is President Mubarak, and Hamas is more on less facing almost similar trouble now, with Bashar Al-Assad [Syria's president] facing his own trouble in Damascus.

"So with the US keeping a distance, Israel not delivering the goods on the peace process and the settlements, it was time for Palestinians to come together and agree on what they basically agreed on almost a year and a half ago."

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said on Wednesday that Abbas could not hope to forge a peace deal with Israel if he pursued a reconciliation accord with Hamas.

"The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both," he said.

The US is reviewing further reports on details of the reconciliation and while it supports Palestinian reconciliation, Hamas remains "a terrorist organisation which targets civilians", Tommy Vietor, US National Security Council spokesman, said.

"To play a constructive role in achieving peace, any Palestinian government must accept the Quartet principles and renounce violence, abide by past agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist."

Hamas does not recognise Israel as a state.

In a statement carried by the Egyptian state news agency MENA, the intelligence service said the deal was agreed by a Hamas delegation led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the group's politburo, and Fatah central committee member Azzam al-Ahmad.

Al-Ahmad and Abu Marzouk said the agreement covered all points of contention, including forming a transitional government, security arrangements and the restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organisation to allow Hamas to join it.

Speaking on Egyptian state television, al-Ahmad said a general election would take place within a year.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior member of Hamas, said all prisoners with a non-criminal background would be released.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...119845721.html

I actually got excited when i saw this news.

[Demosthenes11]

inb4 elvis

[solanis]

Hamas does not recognise Israel as a state.

lol, o u al jazeera

[aurik]

Israel being counterproductive in the middle east peace process because the only logical effect of such a stance is appeasement? No.....






Say it ain't so.

[Kuya]

The PLA was also working on declaring the Palestinian State with the UN, i imagine that they might do this after the elections.

[Zoolander]

About damn time...unified front is pretty much essential if they want to have a real go at negotiations w/Israel & rest of the world. Definitely was happy to read this a little bit ago.

And who gives a fuck what Netanyahu says, thats pretty much all talk.

[solanis]

The PLA was also working on declaring the Palestinian State with the UN, i imagine that they might do this after the elections.

what? are you using the wrong acronym or something?

[Kuya]

Al Fatah, PLA whatever.

edit: ah PLO

[solanis]

Al Fatah, PLA whatever.

edit: ah PLO

yeah, the PLA, PLO, and Al Fatah are vastly different. if you're going to be happy about something, at least understand what the involved factions are.

[Zoolander]

This kind of re-energizes my desire to go do volunteer work in Palestine. I was kind like "hrrrmmm fuck that shit" after that Italian activist was kidnapped & murdered by the Salafists (although still makes me pause and consider it, obviously).

Still only one step, but seems like this was something that had to get done.

[Olo401]

Israel being counterproductive in the middle east peace process because the only logical effect of such a stance is appeasement? No.....


Say it ain't so.

Nothing but the best douchebaggery from Likud. Of course I'd expect it from any Israeli pol..

And who gives a fuck what Netanyahu says, because he's a warmongering asshat.

FTFY

[Kuya]

yeah, the PLA, PLO, and Al Fatah are vastly different. if you're going to be happy about something, at least understand what the involved factions are.

Uh, thanks for the scolding then.

[Melchiah]

Kuya, you naughty boy.

And like some others said, fuck Isreal. I'm inclined to not recognize them as a state either, they pull some terrorist shit themselves.

[Mizango]

Kuya, you naughty boy.

And like some others said, fuck Isreal. I'm inclined to not recognize them as a state either, they pull some terrorist shit themselves.

For real. They do dirt on the regular and then run and hide behind our cape of "justice".

[Cleveland_7795]

This kind of re-energizes my desire to go do volunteer work in Palestine. I was kind like "hrrrmmm fuck that shit" after that Italian activist was kidnapped & murdered by the Salafists (although still makes me pause and consider it, obviously).

Still only one step, but seems like this was something that had to get done.

Activists. Its up to at least 2, probably more.

But I am sure their deaths are Israel's fault...

[Ashmada]

Gonna get a lot of flak for this, but I can't see anything wrong in Netanyahu's statement, barring obviousness.

I appreciate that Israel isn't always playing fair, but come on, we're talking Hamas. Hamas. An organisation pretty much everyone recognizes as terrorist in nature, even countries that aren't pro-Israel in the slightest. Giving them any kind of political weight is beyond stupid.

Further, if they don't recognize Israel's sovereignity, it's pretty obvious they can't make a deal with Israel.

[Kuya]

Well, it looks like not even Fatah can make a deal with Israel. If the argument is that Hamas will make it impossible to reach a deal with Israel, i'd say instead that there was never going to be a fair deal with Israel.

[Ashmada]

Agreed, but this particular statement from Netanyahu isn't really wrong in any way, just stating the obvious.
Tbh, I don't see a deal taking place in the next couple of decades. A lot more blood will be shed, neither the Israelian authority nor Hamas are committed to peace. Fatah might be, but they can't negotiate with unwilling partners.

Thing is, the Israelian authority might eventually come to tire of the bloodshed; but a terrorist organisation?

[Kuya]

I don't really care what Israel wants. I'm more concerned with the harm that it does the palestinians to have one goverment govern Gaza and the other the West Bank independently with no cooperation. This i think was a major weakness for any notion of a palestinian State. With Hamas and Fatah working together, i think they take a step forward in strenghtening their position.

I want them to unilaterally (with the UN) declare the Palestinian State.

[Ashmada]

Unilateral decisions aren't known for their peace creating virtues .

And I hope the UN isn't crazy enough to legitimize terrorists.