According to Karl Vick's logic, Islamic Jihad is now peaceful!

Earlier this week, Karl Vick at Time Magazine came up with this piece of convoluted logic that only a self-described Middle East expert can conjure up:

Quite possibly biggest news out of Cairo was deep in the fine print: Efforts are under way to bring Hamas into the PLO, or Palestine Liberation Organization, the umbrella for all Palestinian factions. ...Hamas has wanted to join it since at least 2005. If Hamas finally gets in, the implications would appear to be immense. It would mean agreeing to the positions and agreements the PLO has already made. This includes recognizing Israel, and renouncing terror -- two things Hamas has never been willing to do.

As I mentioned at the time, this venerable journalist and analyst didn't even consider that Hamas' joining the PLO would mean that the PLO would change its position, not Hamas.

So who is right - an anonymous blogger with a ridiculously ironic name or the Time Magazine's Middle East expert analyst Karl Vick?

A hint can be seen in this article:

An Islamic Jihad delegation has arrived in Cairo to discuss national unity, party officials said Thursday.

The group, headed by the movement's general-secretary Ramadan Shalah, was invited for talks following a meeting between Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal in the Egyptian capital last week, Islamic Jihad officials told Ma'an.

On Wednesday, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian Liberation Front said they had received invitations to send delegations to Cairo on Dec. 4 and Dec. 6 to discuss the unity deal. Later this month, the secretary-generals of all factions are due to attend a collective meeting in Cairo.

The Islamic Jihad delegation will discuss joining the Palestine Liberation Organization, officials said.

By Vick's logic, this means that Islamic Jihad is now a moderate, peace-loving organization! They want to join the PLO!  And the other terror groups discussing unity are probably not far behind! "The implications would appear to be immense!"

But wait:

Senior leader Sheikh Khalid al-Batsh told Ma'an on Sunday that Islamic Jihad would be interested in joining the PLO, but only on condition that it is restructured and its new agenda does not include any recognition of Israel.

Following talks between Abbas and Mashaal on Nov. 24, it was announced that an all-encompassing leadership body tasked with reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization would hold its first meeting on Dec. 22. The body was first envisioned by a 2005 agreement among factions.

Hamas is not part of the PLO, which is dominated by the Fatah movement. Hamas, which is shunned by the West for its hostility to Israel, believes that joining the PLO would bolster its international standing.

That sound you hear is the sound of the entire mainstream media ignoring the facts.

Fatah is moving towards Hamas-style rejectionism; Hamas is not moving towards peace. And the PLO might be reformed to accommodate terror groups while keeping its international cachet.

This is pretty obvious to anyone -  except to Middle East experts employed by major media outlets.