There’s plenty of discussion over which side bears the most responsibility for the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. One crucial aspect that appears to be downplayed in some media is the impact of the announcement of the reconciliation deal between the PA and Hamas.
According to Israeli sources, talks with the Palestinians on returning to negotiations had been relatively positive. The deal with Hamas, however, took Israel by surprise.
The Guardian, in a Q and A on the peace talks includes a section asking who is to blame. Regarding the Hamas deal the article states:
Last week he [Mahmoud Abbas] initiated reconciliation talks with Hamas, which triggered Israel’s suspension of the talks.
Does The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont really believe that the reconciliation talks were initiated only a week ago? Clearly the deal had been in the works for many weeks if not longer with the implication that the PA had been negotiating with Hamas and Israel concurrently.
Regarding Hamas itself, the media seem to have short memories over exactly what Hamas represents. In what was a relatively positive editorial in the Daily Telegraph, the paper referred to Israel’s suspension of peace talks:
This was in response to the united accord struck by Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, with the Islamist Hamas group, which Israel considers a terrorist organisation.
But it’s not just Israel that considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization. The Daily Telegraph omitted the U.S., UK, Canada, EU, Japan and even Egypt amongst others. It’s time that the media makes it clear exactly why Israel cannot and will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas.
Here are 25 facts to remind you what Hamas is really about.
