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For Hamas, Blockade-Busting Backfires

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Pollock - The initial aftermath of the May 31 flotilla interception witnessed a few abortive signals that Hamas might gain greater global acceptance. Yet Hamas has no more international legitimacy today than it did before the flotilla episode. Symptomatic of this is the statement issued by the G-8 countries, including Russia, in closing their Canadian summit. The section on the peace process makes no mention of Hamas. Instead, it reaffirms the goal of Israel and a Palestinian state "living side by side in peace and security," welcomes Israel's decision to investigate the flotilla incident and adopt "a new policy" toward Gaza, balances "the needs of Gaza's population" with "the legitimate security concerns of Israel," and urges "the strengthening of Palestinian Authority institutions" - all at the expense, at least implicitly, of Hamas. Cairo remains very uncomfortable with Hamas on its border. Over the past few days, the exchange of public insults between Cairo and Hamas has grown ever more shrill. On June 28, the semi-official Egyptian daily al-Akhbar called Hamas a "suspicious secessionist movement." On the ground, security and political factors make Egypt loath to open its border with Gaza more than a crack. Consequently, the renewed opening of Rafah, Gaza's lone border crossing with Egypt, is more rhetorical than real. And the Egyptian establishment publicly blames Hamas intransigence for this predicament. The writer is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute.
2010-07-02 10:04:35
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