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Source: http://zope06.v.servelocity.net/hjs/sections/middleeast/arab_israeli_diplomacy
Misreading Arab-Israeli Diplomacy
[Henry Jackson Society] Dore Gold - The Mecca Agreement created a fusion between the alleged moderate branch of the PA headed by Fatah leader Abbas, and Hamas that maintains links with the Muslim Brotherhood. But it did not forge a new common stance of renouncing violence, recognizing Israel, or firmly committing all Palestinian parties to previous peace agreements, as the international community has demanded. It was precisely while the U.S. was actively engaged in conflict management between Israel and the Palestinians that al-Qaeda was planning terrorist attacks. Islamist organizations, like al-Qaeda, may raise specific political grievances at times from the Balkans, Chechnya, or Kashmir, but what empirically has really helped these organizations surge in strength is their sense of victory from the battles in any of these clashes. Withdrawal in the face of radical Islam only strengthens the present worldwide militant wave and empowers its adherents. Recent apocalyptic Sunni and Shiite literature perceives the recovery of Jerusalem as a trigger to a new wave of global jihad. This doctrine predicts an imminent clash between the Mahdi - a Muslim savior - and the Islamic antichrist, known as the Dajjal, in the Holy City. Thus begins a new stage of worldwide violence extending to Rome and the entire West.