The Israeli/Palestinian “peace” conference continues in Annapolis today. However, Gaza, a Palestinian territory that democratically elected a terrorist gang to govern them, seems to have other ideas about “peace.”
GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas Islamists rejected U.S. President George W. Bush’s drive for peace in the Middle East on Wednesday and vowed to undermine Israeli-Palestinian negotiations by keeping up their fight against the Jewish state.
So how does a leader make international agreements when a large portion of his country is diametrically opposed to agreements? This is another example in the growing global problem of conflict within states, not between states. The true conflict here is not between the Israelis and the Palestinians, everyone is well versed in that fight. The real story is the real civil war that continues in the Palestinian territories, between Hamas and Fatah. What is interesting here is that a “leader” of a “state” is attempting to lobby on the international scene on behalf of people that are not even consenting to be governed by him. This is akin to having Muqtada Al-Sadr negotiate on behalf of Iraq, when a large chunk of Iraqis can’t stand him.
What do you make of an agreement in these circumstances? Even if a mutual agreement on a framework (or roadmap?) toward Palestinian statehood is reached, how can it possibly be enacted on the ground when Hamas is still committed to destroy the Palestinians’ new “partner in peace” Israel?
The bottom line on this is that it is formulaic, going through the motions, check th box diplomacy.
