(International Herald Tribune) David Makovsky - The key challenge is to stop those who oppose any peace agreement, such as Hamas, which is ideologically committed to Israel's destruction. Fighting Hamas with new Palestinian security forces is an obvious starting point, but that alone won't suffice. A political and financial strategy is also needed to neutralize them. It is also important to compete with Hamas in the economic sphere, since Hamas has a proven track record in providing essential social services that the Palestinians were not able to obtain from the government. Abbas needs to articulate how nonviolence is validated by economic benefits. Such steps are especially important as Hamas will claim that the Israeli exit is a result of its terror strategy. Competing with Hamas also needs to be done at the ballot box. If the mainstream Fatah party in Gaza wants to do better in the parliamentary elections than in January's municipal polls, it needs new candidates free from the taint of corruption.
2005-03-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive