Report: EU to lift sanctions on Hamas if Palestinian unity gov't formed

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"If a Palestinian unity government is established, Europe would be willing to recognize the Palestinian leadership, and would consequently lift the sanctions it imposed on Hamas, sources in the entourage of French President Nicolas Sarkozy told France 2 television on Monday.

The European Union has classified Hamas as a terror organization, and has refused to negotiate with the group since it was elected to lead the Palestinian Authority in 2006."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056821.html

[azurnoir]

1. well certainly gives all kinds of people on all sides

somethings to consider, to put it mildly

[azurnoir]

2. kick because it seems

a number of people wish to ignore this

[Idealism]

3. Would be a step, but the past unity government didn't go too well

Fatah has been too corrupt and inept to rule by themselves, and brought only obstructionism to the last unity government. Abbas needs to go.

[azurnoir]

4. True enough about Abbas but it was "outside" interference

that helped bring about th down fall of the unity government

[Idealism]

6. Outside money was pouring into Hamas' coffers to further split Palestinians

But the onus of the violence is all on these two, the outsiders may have given them to guns but they decided to shoot each other, the US and Israel just helped them reach that conclusion.

I do think that Israel and by proxy the US needs to stop meddling in the affairs of foreign politics. They have installed enough dictators in the world through the years, have caused enough rifts in countries and territories that have ultimately failed to do what they wished. Of all the coups the CIA initiated in South America, eastern Europe, and the Middle East, none have been successful in bringing about the democracy which they thought it would. It is past time to leave others be.

[azurnoir]

7. There was also outside money being poured into Fatah

Gen. Dayton admits US is helping Fatah

As violence raged this week in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Fatah, US officials stressed the importance of American efforts to bolster forces loyal to the latter and said further help was necessary.

Congress recently allowed $59 million to be used to further Dayton's efforts at training the presidential guard of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.
The money, however, didn't go through the normal appropriation process, as the White House took previously approved funds and simply reallocated them.
Dayton pushed the case for further US assistance to the Palestinian guard, despite months of efforts on the ground that have seemed to have little effect against the well-disciplined and well-supplied Hamas.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/J...

He admits that the US was/is "helping" Fatah/PA to fight Hamas in Gaza note this article is fro May of 2007, at best both sides were planning this well in advance.

The June escalation was triggered by Hamas’s conviction that the PA’s Presidential Guard, which US Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Keith Dayton had helped build up to 3,500 men since August 2006, was being positioned to take control of Gaza. The timing was significant. Abbas, Haniyeh and Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, normally based in Damascus, had signed a Saudi-brokered power-sharing deal on 9 February 2007, and formed a national unity government in mid-March. In response, the build-up of the Presidential Guard was accelerated. The US had arranged the transfer of 2,000 rifles and ammunition from Egypt in late December 2006, and in late April the Israeli government transferred another 375; the US committed $59 million for training and non-lethal equipment, and covertly persuaded Arab allies to fund the purchase of further weapons. Jordan and Egypt hosted at least two battalions for training, one of which was deployed into Gaza as clashes resumed in mid-May. With half its parliamentary bloc and its cabinet ministers in the West Bank in Israeli custody since the abduction of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants on 28 June 2006, Hamas concluded that its remaining government base in Gaza was in danger and launched what in effect was a pre-emptive coup.

http://www.iiss.org/publications/strategic-comments/pas...

[LeftishBrit]

5. Sounds like a possible way forward. We shall see what happens.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. It should be provided no one gets stupid and starts shooting at each other or Israel

[Scurrilous]

9. France may be prepared to talk to Hamas even if the group doesn not recognize Israel

<snip>

"France signalled on Tuesday that it might be prepared to hold talks with Hamas even if the Palestinian Islamist group does not recognise Israel as Paris and other Western powers have demanded for years.

The "Quartet" of Middle East mediators - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - has said there can be no dealings with Hamas until it recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts existing interim peace deals.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier, however, said that renouncing violence was the most important of those three conditions, an apparent shift in France's position.

"We repeat that the elements of the Quartet have been defined. There is obviously an absolutely major element, which is renouncing violence," Chevallier told a news conference.

When asked if France was scrapping the recognition of Israel as a precondition, he said: "I did not say that it was not a precondition" but repeated his phrase suggesting that renouncing violence was more important than the other conditions."

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