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The 8 February 2007 Saudi-brokered Mecca Agreement between the Palestinian rivals offers the chance of a fresh start: for Hamas and Fatah to restore law and order and rein in militias; for Israelis and Palestinians to establish a comprehensive ceasefire and start a credible peace process; and for the Quartet (or at least those of its members inclined to do so) to adopt a more pragmatic attitude that judges a government of national unity by deeds, not rhetoric.
The Islamists thought they could govern without paying an ideological price, Fatah that it could swiftly push them aside and regain power. By imposing sanctions and boycotting the government, the Quartet (U.S., European Union (EU), Russia and UN) and Israel hoped to force Hamas to change or persuade the Palestinians to oust it. Washington promised security and economic aid to encourage Fatah to confront Hamas and help defeat it. The illusions have brought only grief.
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- If the international community is serious about its proclaimed goals, it will help bring stability to the Palestinians and broker a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, permit the unity government to govern and press for meaningful negotiations between Abbas and Olmert. It will see Mecca as an opportunity to revive the peace process, rather than as yet another excuse to bury it.
- To the U.S. Government:
  
  18.
  Cease efforts to scuttle or amend the text of the Mecca Agreement and use the potential lifting of sanctions as an incentive to influence the new government’s conduct rather than an instrument to remove it from power.
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  19.
  Adopt a more flexible posture with regard to other countries’ political and financial dealings with the PA, particularly concerning threats to blacklist banks which transfer funds on behalf of other governments.
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- Clearly adopt the goal of influencing Hamas’s conduct rather than ousting it from power.
- Mecca is a prerequisite for a peace process not an obstacle to it. Without a Hamas-Fatah power-sharing agreement and as long as the Islamists feel marginalised, unable to govern and in an existential struggle for survival, there can be no sustainable diplomacy.

27 Jan 07

"Israeli Leaders Push for Diplomacy With Sunni Arabs - Forward.com"

www.forward.com/...-for-diplomacy-with-sunni-arab - Preview

israel mideast

22 Jan 07

Israeli, Syrian representatives reach secret understandings - Haaretz - Israel News

www.haaretz.com/...813817.html - Preview

iraq israel mideast syria

21 Dec 06

International Crisis Group - Lebanon at a Tripwire

www.crisisgroup.org/...index.cfm - Preview

lebanon mideast

01 Dec 06

untitled

www.nirrosen.com/blog - Preview

iraq journalism lebanon mideast

27 Nov 06

Foreign Affairs - The New Middle East - Richard N. Haass

www.foreignaffairs.org/...the-new-middle-east.html - Preview

israel lebanon mideast palestine

A definitive article on the future of the Mideast, where America has lost its dominance and local forces will play out relatively unimpeded by colonial powers.
- schamess on 2006-11-27

01 Nov 06