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Abbas' Misbegotten Peace Bid to Hamas
[ Boston Globe] Sara Bjerg Moller - Since last month, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has been working overtime to engineer a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. Last week Abbas announced that he was prepared to meet with leaders of Hamas without any preconditions, abandoning a policy of refusing to talk to Hamas until it first gave up control of Gaza, and suggesting that Abbas has concluded that the future lies not in talks with Israel but with Hamas. For the White House, which has sought to isolate Hamas internationally, and an Israeli government that wants the group to renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state, such moves are unwelcome. Politically expedient as it may be, Abbas should ask himself whether the Palestinian people are best served by "a national and comprehensive dialogue" with Hamas. While one could be forgiven for thinking Palestinian unity should be welcomed, a Fatah-Hamas national dialogue would have negative consequences for Palestinians and the peace process. The formation of a new unity government will embolden Hamas hard-liners who, having weathered the storm of the past 12 months, will argue for a continuation of their confrontational approach toward Israel. The writer is a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations.