Hamas Says It Will Not Hold Truce Talks

[*End Is Forever*]

Now there is a twist of which I was not aware. Hamas wants Jordan "back" as well?

Yes. Hamas, Islamic Jihad et al believe in a return to the "true" Palestine under "true" Islamic rule. This necessitates firstly the secession of large chunks of Jordan (if not all of it, I'm far from certain about the geography) and, secondly, the removal of the PLO from any future Palestinian state; whilst the PLO are Muslims they're far too secular for Hamas' taste, and are almost in effect being supported as the lesser of two evils.

[Az]

well, if they want the territory of Israel, it's only fair that they'd want the territory of Jordan as well. It was always considered a single unit.

[Cruddy]

Originally posted by Arrian
Of course Hamas won't stop. Did anyone seriously think they would?

-Arrian

I think it unlikely, but no impossible.

IIRC Hamas got started back in the 80s when Israel was occupying Beiruit and forcing a lot of Palestinians out.

Given the situation then, it's no wonder they don't trust Arafat.

HOWEVER, given their recent losses (and the lack of any real military impact of their operations) they MIGHT at least agree to a ceasefire, if they can see it as a possible way to lever Arafat out. What really infuriates them is the thought of the Pals being sold out yet again.

Like I said, unlikely. But, one of the reasons the PIRA declared a truce was their losses were very high - if you are on the losing end of a military campaign, peace looks like a more attractive route to justice.

[Sirotnikov]

Funny how it would be Israel that wou;ld mpst vehenmtly oppose this, since it would mean foreigners coming into the occupied territories and taking control away from the IDF. Israel has always been the party to oppose armed anything from anywhere else coming in.

The only reason that Israeli would oppose it is because we don't trust the UN to do a half decent job, esp. when it comes to fighting terrorism. When it comes to combating terrorism, we only trust ourselvse.

If we really knew the UN would be dead serious in their pursuit of terrorists, and would pursue them, instead of ignoring them, and even defending them (see UN treatment of Hezballah men who abducted 3 Israeli sodliers) , we would happily let the UN in.

[blackice]

Do you think finally the world will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff?

[CyberGnu]

Sadly, the one thing that made this roadmap different from the previous ones seems to be missing from the last versions...

Early on, it was emphasised that in the first phase, each side should carry through with their respective obligations regardless of whether the other side did so or not.

This would be the only way to solve the deadlock: As Gepap pointed out, Abbas can't crack down on Hamas unless he can show that Israel for the first time in its existance actually does take a real step towards peace.

The way I expected it to go would be for Bush to force Sharon to go ahead with the roadmap. The first 4-6 months I wouldn't expect anything substantial to happen in palestine. After that, when palestine had been protected from Israeli aggression for a while, it would be made clear that unless Hamas is taken care of Israel would be let loose again, with the barbarities that would follow... And the palestinian people would see that there is actually an alternative to violence.

But, since this is missing, I don't have the greatest hopes for this turn either...