Summary:
Abbas is "reminding" Hamas that he can remove them from power.
Hamas warns that doing so could be messy for everyone.
snippet:
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The moderate Palestinian Authority president publicly warned Hamas militants on Monday that he has the authority to bring down their month-old government, and told them it was high time they recognized Israel.
President Mahmoud Abbas' warning, which raised the stakes in his fierce power struggle with Hamas, drew a stern threat from the militant group to call off its 15-month-old truce with Israel.
"Being ousted from power will have a heavy price for everyone," a senior Hamas official in the West Bank said. "We hope not to reach that point."
I think it is good that he is standing up to them, but it might be a pretty empty threat since apparently doing this could require (Hamas-led) Legislature approval.
I don't know for sure, but isn't Abbas just a US puppet anyway? I think he has GW on speed dial.
I thought of him as a puppet of Israel, which I guess would be a US puppet by proxy or something. I think any dialogue in that region by the region's occupants has to be a good one. I mean, if it doesn't blow up (pun intended) then it has to be a step forward. That goes for all parties involved.
Abbas was Yasir Arafat's pick for PM when he left politics. Does that sound like a puppet of Israel or the US?
Just because an Arab doesn't snatch up an AK and declare Jihad on the west every morning after breakfast doesn't make him a puppet any more than an Arab not agreeing with the UN kicking everyone out of Palestine and declaring it a Jewish state makes them a terrorist.
But then again I am talking to a nation of people who votes (twice!) for a president who throws around words like "good" and "evil" every time he makes a speech.
kyoukan wrote:Abbas was Yasir Arafat's pick for PM when he left politics. Does that sound like a puppet of Israel or the US?
Just because an Arab doesn't snatch up an AK and declare Jihad on the west every morning after breakfast doesn't make him a puppet any more than an Arab not agreeing with the UN kicking everyone out of Palestine and declaring it a Jewish state makes them a terrorist.
But then again I am talking to a nation of people who votes (twice!) for a president who throws around words like "good" and "evil" every time he makes a speech.
I also remember that people weren't exactly happy with him stepping in even though he was picked for the job. He has accomplished a lot more than I would have expected. I don't really think he's a puppet of anyone, but as long as he is staring down Hamas I fear that he will need someone to back him up. The sad thing is that if it is Israel or the US (if he would even let them) he would lose whatever support he had before.
Kyou
