Respectfully Disagree

Submitted by Sheldon Tyber (Canada), Mar 17, 2013 at 19:25

Mr. Pipes,

I deeply respect your work, and regard you as one of the foremost thinkers / commentators on the Middle East. However, I completely disagree with this article.

Fatah may not be delivering the full amount of counter-terrorism that Israel would love to see. However, there is no question that Fatah works with Israeli national security organizations to: 1) prevent large-scale attacks that would otherwise emanate from the West Bank, 2) prevent the expansion of (more radical) Hamas' support in the West Bank, and 3) reduce the popular support in the West Bank for violent resistance. This situation starkly contrasts with that of Hamas. Suggesting that Fatah and Hamas are no different is a denial of objective facts.

It is hardly realistic to expect that, at this time, a Palestinian leader could move closer to your demands without completely jeopardizing their own popular support. If Abbas were to accede, I have no doubt that it would lead to the loss of the Palestinians least radical leader. If that were to occur, Israel's strategic position would become worse, not better.

The West Bank is (relatively) peaceful. Economic growth has been occurring for a few years. We should leverage those factors to convince Gazans that they, too, would benefit by dropping radicalism and violence. Demanding more of Abbas, right now, is not the most beneficial approach.

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