Reuters has redefined what’s considered road map compliance, and in the process, lowered the bar on what’s expected of PA president Mahmoud Abbas:
The peace plan, adopted in 2003, provides for reciprocal steps by the Israelis and the Palestinians, leading to the creating of a provisional Palestinian state.
Israel is supposed to halt all settlement activity in the first phase, in return for security measures to end violence which new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is implementing.
Actually, the road map obligates the PA to crack down on terror organizations first, which Abbas has not done (by his own admission). In fact, the Islamic fundamentalist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad are mulling joining the PLO to increase their clout, while the secular gunmen of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade will likely be employed as policemen.
The road map specifically states that an “unconditional cessation of violence” is required from Palestinian terrorist groups, but Abbas has only delivered a fragile cease fire with an expiration date. So at a time when demands are made for ever more Israeli concessions, how can Reuters say Abbas is implementing security steps to end terror?
For more on the media mishandling road map compliance, see here.
