Abbas tries his hand at humor

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in remarks published on Thursday there were signs of an al Qaeda presence in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

'We have indications about a presence of al Qaeda in Gaza and the (West) Bank. This is intelligence information. We have not yet reached the point of arrests,' Abbas said.

'The last security report I received was three days ago,' he told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper. 'This is the first time that I've spoken about this subject. This is a very serious matter.'"

On the same day:

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas intends to transfer broad security powers to the future Hamas government, including the national defense branch, preventive security, the civilian police and civil defense, he said on Tuesday.

The national defense branch, which consists of 25,000 policemen, is the largest branch and is defined as the Palestinian army. The other three are subject to the Palestinian Interior Ministry.

Chris Rock could learn from his sense of timing. At the risk of ruining the joke by too much analysis (it is Adar, after all):

In the first article, he broadly implies, with a broad wink, that the PA would consider arresting Al Qaeda terrorists found in the territories.

Only some in the audience get that joke, because some of them think that Fatah with all its "policemen" actually enforces law and order and is against terrorism.

So he waits a beat, and then tells the audience that Hamas is going to be in charge of the group that would (pretend to) consider arresting Al Qaeda members!

Ba-da-bum!

Even the most dense audience member can see that there is no difference between Hamas and Al Qaeda! Both spring from Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, both advocate a worldwide Islamic state under Islamic law, both advocate the genocide of Jews and the murder of millions of Americans. The idea that Hamas would do anything against Al Qaeda terror is hilarious! Hell, Hamas invited Al Qaeda to Gaza!

I am not so sure that the world audience gets the joke, though. Since the unrepentant Hamas is quickly gaining legitimacy and tacit backing from the free world (as well as the thugocracies of Islamism) it looks like the West is bending over backwards to explain exactly what the difference is between Hamas and Al Qaeda that the former gets millions of dollars (without a single concession) and the latter remains beyond the pale.

And the only difference is one that is squarely George Bush's fault: his years of pressing for democracy (without pressing for freedom) has made Hamas legit. (A more cynical explanation may be that Hamas primarily targets Jews and Israeli targets, not other Westerners.)

As long as the West is willing to pretend that there are significant differences between Fatah, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, PIJ, the Iranian regime and the Muslim Brotherhood, the terrorists can manipulate us at will, all the while meeting with each other openly and planning our demise.

A good joke cuts through the bull and shows the truth in an unexpected way. Mahmoud Abbas just made a very good joke. But only those who know the truth can appreciate it.