| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine |
| Hamas "..opposed to any monopoly of power" |
| 2004-11-17 |
| Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have again called for a unified leadership to be set up following Yasser Arafat's death. The groups want to be part of a joint leadership until presidential elections scheduled for early January 2005. For now, both groups are refusing to participate in the election. They argue that the vote will only be used to install a leader associated with Mr Arafat's Fatah movement, which has always held the levers of Palestinian power. But the powerful Islamist movement, Hamas, and its sister party, Islamic Jihad, say that they should now be drawn into the power structure. "We are opposed to any monopoly on power." Unless we have the monopoly |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #6 True, BAR, but not an unpredictable reflection of that society. |
| Posted by: Jules 187 2004-11-17 3:39:55 PM |
| #5 What's interesting here is that a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION is attempting to call the shots, with little in the way of official opposition. Not a very good reflection on Paleo society or its "government". |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-11-17 3:36:59 PM |
| #4 Interesting potential scenario: "Unified Leadership" II=Terrorist group representatives and non-terrorists working in the same coalition government POST-election. We didn't deal with Arafat because he was both the symbol and coordinator of the terrorists. I hope we have considered the above potential coalition and prepared that aspect of our policy accordingly. (AFAIC, any group affiliated with terrorists acts should not be at the bargaining table or be seen as a legitimate partner for negotiations-Palestinians have their part of the bargain to keep, too; but are Blair and the Europeans of that mind as well?) |
| Posted by: Jules 187 2004-11-17 2:40:22 PM |
| #3 Would it be inappropriate for me to Ululate in anticipation of the oncoming Paleo Civil War? |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-11-17 2:32:36 PM |
| #2 "Palestinian Authority" was an oxymoron when Arafat was alive. There is no government to speak of, and elections in this context will be meaningless. Methinks Bush's four-year horizon needs to be stretched a bit. Like a few decades. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-17 2:18:35 PM |
| #1 A government that does not have a monopoly on force in its own territory is no government at all. The Paleos are heading straight towards a de facto solution imposed by Israel (the wall), a civil war, or most likely both. Not surprising, but depressing. |
| Posted by: Nero 2004-11-17 2:15:47 PM |