Deal Reached On Hamas-Fatah Unity Government. World To Rejoice.

By
Omri Ceren
– February 8, 2007Posted in: Palestinians

Countdown to EU saying “well, they didn’t recognize Israel – but close enough for us” begins now:

Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on how to divvy up cabinet posts in a power-sharing government, crucial to averting a civil war, a Fatah official said Thursday. Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said in the afternoon that a complete deal could be reached as early as Thursday or Friday. “We have achieved progress in some points, and there are no points that can hinder reaching an agreement,” he told a press conference. “We have a clear decision not to let the Mecca dialogue fail. We have no option: either to succeed or to succeed.” On the second day of their marathon summit, Fatah and Hamas were still working on the second part of the agreement: to what degree a new government will recognize previous peace deals with Israel.

Here’s the thing: in any rational universe, the government would have to recognize all previous peace deals with Israel. Because that’s how treaties work, you see. Unless the treaties say so, future governments don’t get to pick and choose which ones they want to follow. That’s in fact one of the differences between an actual government and a rotating band of thugs and terrorists. It’d be wonderful if the next hardline Israeli government could pick and choose which of Labor’s previous territorial concessions they’d like to take back, but they can’t. Because that’s not how treaties work.

References:
* Report: Hamas, Fatah agree on unity cabinet posts [JPost]

Previously:
* Reuters Misleads Readers About Hamas’s Treaty Obligations, Misses Everything That’s Important About Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking
* Hamas Decides to Be Helpful, Illustrates Many Ways International Law is Structured Against Israel
* This Is How the Palestinian Authority Will Dodge Its Treaty Obligations. Again.

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