On Wednesday, Khaled Meshal of Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah came together in Cairo and publicly signed a historic reconciliation agreement, in front of a room filed with supporters from the Arab world and the international community.Didn’t they?Actually, they didn’t.Al Quds al-Arabi mentions, almost in passing:Notably, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not sign the agreement, as expected, and neither did Mr. Khaled Meshaal of the Islamic Resistance Movement ‘Hamas.’The New York Times noticed this as well:
In what appeared a sign of lingering friction, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal did not share the podium with Abbas and the ceremony was delayed briefly over where he would sit. Against expectations, neither signed the unity document.
That wasn’t the only weird thing that happened at the ceremony that was meant to signify a new chapter in harmonious intra-Palestinian Arab relations. There were actual public disagreements on stage, concerning who was to speak, where people were to sit, and how Mahmoud Abbas should be described (as the “president of Palestine” or as the leader of Fatah.) In fact, from all appearances, Hamas is not recognizing Abbas as the real president of the “unified” leadership!Put all of this together and the real picture begins to emerge: the entire “unity” agreement is a facade meant to placate Westerners (as well as restive Palestinian Arabs who are eying the revolutions and demonstrations happening around them.) In reality, Hamas and Fatah hate each other as much as ever.There are no indications that Hamas is giving up any of its security or political power in Gaza. Quite the opposite: Hamas yesterday brazenly executed an alleged “spy,” which according to Palestinian Arab law must not happen without presidential approval.Also in Gaza yesterday, Palestinian Arabs celebrated this wonderful “unity” by showing posters depicting one of their other heroes:
Why is the Western world believing–and supporting!–this sham that is meant to ultimately create a terror state, one that will not compromise in the least on its major goal of destroying Israel?
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Thursday, May 05, 2011
The sham "unity" agreement (NewsRealBlog)
My latest post at NewsRealBlog puts together the fake signing ceremony in Cairo with other things I've been blogging about over the past day.