(Washington Times) Editorial - In the wake of the Hamas victory in the Palestinian legislative elections, Washington is already under pressure to emulate the wrong-headed policies of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when American policy-makers labored to persuade Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization to say they recognized Israel's right to exist. The result was the 1993 Oslo Accords and the endless and naive "peace process" that followed: seven years of substantial Israeli political and territorial concessions in exchange for empty promises to end the conflict with Israel and to prevent Palestinian terrorism. Now there is a new drumbeat of demands that Washington court Hamas - in other words, that we repeat what failed. It makes no sense to go chasing after the likes of Hamas boss Mohammed Zohhar, to cajole him into making a meaningless statement laden with caveats about continuing "a ceasefire" with Israel - even as Hamas and its terrorist allies fire rockets into Israel and prepare for a new round of terrorist strikes. Washington and the EU should never, ever, subsidize Zohhar and his ilk.
2006-02-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive