Quartet: Hamas should not be part of new Palestinian Cabinet

[occuserpens]

Yet another blunder of EU/Russian diplomacy
-- They have nothing to with I/P.
-- They don't have any practical means to enforce their position.
-- Arabs and Israelis won't listen to them.

[bemildred]

1. Do you have a link? nt

[Wordie]

2. I happened to run across it: here it is and some quotes:

Quartet: Hamas should not be part of new Palestinian Cabinet
By The Associated Press

The four international supporters of the Middle East peace process said Wednesday that the next Palestinian Cabinet should not include members of Hamas or other militant groups committed to violence.

The statement by the so-called quartet did not name Hamas, but said a future Palestinian Cabinet "should include no member who has not committed to the principles of Israel's right to exist in peace and security and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism."

The quartet, which has drafted a Middle East peace plan known as the road map, includes the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

In its statement, the quartet said there is a "fundamental contradiction" between militia activities and building a democratic state.

The statement said Israel and the Palestinians should begin direct dialogue immediately to coordinate preparations for the election.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/663557.html

[bemildred]

3. OK, thanks, so the headline misrepresents the quartet statement. nt

[Wordie]

4. Well, yes...and no.

The quartet didn't specifically name Hamas. Given that it's pretty clear who it is that the quartet is referring to, the AP article's headline is accurate, if you allow for reading between the lines.

It might have been wise, as the quartet no doubt crafted a carefully worded diplomatic statement, for AP to honor that effort and not name Hamas specifically, either. Hard to write a headline in that case, though.

[bemildred]

7. I disagree.

a.) There are other violent groups than Hamas, including some "splinters" of Fatah.
b.) There is no indication that - should Hamas emit the required verbal formulas - it would not be acceptable.

[Wordie]

9. OK, I see what you're saying...

The headline could have been more inclusive. "All groups calling for Israel's destruction with violent militias," or something like that.

[bemildred]

10. Or "Quartet makes statement on Palestinian elections".

Condensing diplomatic speech is an ugly business.

[Wordie]

11. Yes, that would work. It really did color my reading of the article. nt

[occuserpens]

6. Thanks for posting the link

I just forgot to do this :-(

[Tom Joad]

5. Why no restrictions on who sits in Israeli cabinet? For that matter,

why not restrictions on who sits in that white house on Pennsyvania Avenue? * has committed worse crimes than anything Hamas could dream of.

Sharon has committed massacres and all kinds of atrocities.

[bemildred]

8. Well, it's true, I see no indication Israel intends to renounce violence.

And you can argue that the true policy of both "sides" is the limited use of violence in expedient pursuit of political ends. In other words, what you have is a decades-long, low-grade war. So in that case, asking one side to unilaterally renounce violence is tantamount to asking them to capitulate, asking for unconditional surrender.

But this is really all political rhetoric anyway, I don't believe that anybody expects the Palestinians will follow those instructions, its more in the nature of propaganda for non-Palestinian audiences.