Hamas, bin Laden and Palestinian-Israeli Peace

[oberliner]

Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, claiming to be the true, genuine representatives of the Palestinian people, condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden. No other than the PM of the Hamas Gaza government, Ismail Haniyye, related to the "Holy Arab warrior" no room for misunderstandings, and Hamas deserves credit for clearly reaffirming their Jihadist ideology.

Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian PM, based in Ramallah, issued a totally different statement, hailing the American operation. So, who speaks for the Palestinians on an issue of such a magnitude? In the absence of a reliable poll, we can safely guess that the two leaders speak for their respective audiences, as the Palestinian population is split over this issue. Just recently, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by President Abbas and PM Fayyad, signed a reconciliation agreement, designed to bring about unity between Gaza and the West Bank, under a government of national unity. So, the question is, how can this agreement be reconciled with the totally divergent positions of the two Palestinian movements towards bin Laden's legacy and the peace process?

This is not a question relevant to Hamas, as this organization made it abundantly clear that their fundamental objection to the notion of peace with Israel is unshakeable. It is simply impossible to support bin Laden and be for peace. So, the players to watch are the PA, the Netanyahu government in Israel and the Obama administration.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-josef-olmert/hamas-bin-laden-and-pales_b_857192.html