Sunday, December 21, 2008

Fatah: a dead horse

Betting on a dead horse -Caroline Glick

Imagine what would happen if all the horse racing experts in the world got together and bet their money on a dead horse to win the Kentucky Derby. As far-fetched as that sounds, today all the who's who in foreign affairs are either supporting or actively enacting an analogous policy toward the Palestinian Fatah movement.

Over the past year, Fatah received $1.7 billion in international aid - some $600 million more than the world's foreign policy gurus promised to give last December. But Fatah is a dead horse. Even if it were to sign a peace deal with Israel - and really meant to keep it - the deal would be a dead letter because the Palestinian people themselves want neither peace with Israel nor Fatah.

Fatah lost the Palestinian Authority's January 2006 legislative elections to Hamas. In June 2007 it was violently ousted from Gaza by Hamas. And next month, on January 9, Abbas's term of office as PA chairman will end. If Abbas refuses to relinquish power on January 10, as far as the Palestinian people are concerned, Hamas will be right to reject his authority and to seek to overthrow his government in Judea and Samaria.

By convincing Palestinian society to support jihad, Fatah paved the way for Hamas's takeover. [W]hen you bet on a dead horse. You lose.
[Jerusalem Post]
[This post is dedicated to my father, of blessed memory, who loved horses]

2 comments:

LHwrites said...

This was both relevant and reasonable; 2 things usually lacking from Ms. Glick's theses. Good choice and picture for a dedication.

Bruce said...

I'm glad you liked it. Ms. Glick represents an important strain of the non-religious Israeli right.

Warm regards.