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December 19, 2005

A Surprise From Europe

This is the last thing I ever expected to see.

The European Union is threatening to cut off aid to the Palestinians, after the Islamic militant group Hamas won key local elections in the West Bank. The rise of Hamas could have dire consequences for the peace process.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says the organization could halt tens of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority, if Hamas wins landmark parliamentary elections next month. The Islamic militant group appears headed for victory, after it won municipal elections in the West Bank's biggest cities.

Europe(particularly the weasel states) has been neither a supporter of Israel nor a detractor of Palestinian terrorism, if anything they have seemed less the former and more the latter.

This is good news, although the response from the Palestinian Authority is predictable,

Such kind of fundamentalist terrorist organization, like Hamas, cannot play a political role," he said. "As long as they are terrorists, and they are bloody terrorists, it is obvious that they cannot play a political role."

The Palestinian Authority rejected the criticism, saying it is interference in an "internal Palestinian affair." Palestinian Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

"It is not acceptable. People must respect the democratic choice of the Palestinian people," he said.

And therein lies the essence of the welfare state, in this case the state that is on welfare.

"It is not acceptable." As with all welfare recipients, the PA believes that what handouts they receive from other governments are an entitlement, that they are free to set the conditions.

They're probably targeting France with their protests, knowing which side of the croissant their surrender is on.

Posted by Seth at December 19, 2005 06:29 AM

Comments

Seth, the EU noises regarding Israel still sounds like the same song: to support a Palestinian front group that officially supports peaceful negotiations (while behind the scenes tolerating terrorist actions against Israel). That way, they hope to deny legitimacy to military actions by Israel to defend themselves.

For Hamas to take official leadership of the Palestinians would show everyone the bankrupcy of their approach (and clear the way for Israel to respond militarily). Hence the EU threat to Hamas to step back behind the robes of the Palestinian Authority -- and who cares about the endemic PA corruption that prevent the Palestinian people from developing economically.

In that sense, then, it might almost be preferable for Hamas to take control since they do have a desire for economic reform, and they ironically would have to be more realistic about sponsoring terrorist activity as the visible government, since their actions would represent hostile actions by the Palestinian government, to which the Israelis could reply in accordance with recognized international procedures. And Hamas would also have to make a clear decision whether to embrace or oppose Hizbollah.

Posted by: civil truth at December 21, 2005 04:13 PM

Wow, that's a pretty brilliant analysis, CT, and something that hadn't occurred to me, even given my paranoid-bordering, suspicious way of looking at things. Damn!

Hamas sovereignty would require the terrorist org to adhere to diplomatic principles or be subjected "legally" to Israeli military responses, while with the corrupt PA running things, the Euro powers could still criticize Israel for targeting "civilians" in response to terror attacks. And Fatah will never be able to control the terrorist factions, so there will never be peace.

I can see where it wouldn't be in the weasel states' best interests to have Hamas running Palestinian affairs on an official basis.

Awesome comment, great insight!

Posted by: Seth at December 21, 2005 07:15 PM