Hamas Fires 50+ Rockets Since Cast Lead, Obama And Europe Cozy Up To Hamas

50 rockets fired at Israel since Cast Lead ended, not including another 10 mortars that were fired at Israeli troops this morning. At least the US is holding firm on Hillary’s promise to shun Hamas. Except the opposite of that:

US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell expressed support for Egyptian efforts to forge a Palestinian national unity government, indicating that America could take a new tack on Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, during a conference call Thursday with Jewish leaders. In sharp contrast to the Bush administration, which opposed a Palestinian national unity government, Mitchell said that should Egypt bring the sides together it would be “a step forward,” and that until now divisions among the Palestinians have been a major obstacle to bringing peace to the region, according to representatives of Jewish organizations who participated in the call. The 45-minute call was on the record but not open to the media. Mitchell said that Hamas would still need to adhere to the Quartet’s demands that it halt violence, recognize Israel and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements in such a government, and assessed that the chances of Hamas doing that weren’t good. But the fact that the US would support a Palestinian structure aimed at incorporating and potentially co-opting Hamas – rather than working to exclude it – suggest the contours of a fresh approach by the Obama administration.

I particularly like this formulation because – when Mitchell backslides on those conditions after Israel agrees to them in principle – it’ll be an elegant example of bait-and-switch anti-Israel diplomacy. Very linkable, very helpful. And in the meantime the EU isn’t even bothering with the formalities:

European nations have opened a direct dialogue with Hamas… two French senators travelled to Damascus two weeks ago to meet the leader of the Palestinian Islamist faction, Khaled Meshal… Two British MPs met three weeks ago in Beirut with the Hamas representative in Lebanon, Usamah Hamdan. “Far more people are talking to Hamas than anyone might think,” said a senior European diplomat. “It is the beginning of something new – although we are not negotiating.” Mr Hamdan said yesterday that since the end of last year, MPs from Sweden, the Netherlands and three other western European nations, which he declined to identify, had consulted with Hamas representatives. “They believe they made a mistake by blacklisting Hamas,” he said, referring to the EU decision in 2003 to add the political wing of the movement to its list of terrorist organisations. “Now they know they have to talk to Hamas.”

In fairness to the EU, it’s not like Hamas’s brand of genocidal lunacy is any different from the anti-Jewish fanaticism that’s regularly on display on European streets. So at least they’ll will feel at home.

It’s now a genuine question: what degree of genocidal insanity would you have to display for a Western diplomat to shun you? Because open genocidal intent on a global scale is apparently not only in-bounds but sophisticatedly in-bounds.

References and previously after the jump…

References:
* 50 Gaza Rockets Strike Israel Since Ceasefire [Sderot Media Center]
* Palestinians fire 10 mortar shells at IDF troops on Gaza border [JPost]
* Palestinian Officials: Obama Pretty Psyched About Fatah-Hamas Unity Government [MR]
* Mitchell could support PA unity gov’t [JPost]
* Europe opens covert talks with ‘blacklisted’ Hamas
* Austrian Jews Too Terrified To List Their Children As Jewish (Plus: Europe Reaches An Anti-Jewish Tipping Point) [MR]