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Source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/why-hamas-fatah-deal-bad-palestinians_560809.html
Why the Hamas-Fatah Deal Is Bad for the Palestinians
(Weekly Standard) Jonathan Schanzer - Last week's unity deal between Hamas and Fatah signals that Fatah no longer believes U.S. recognition and support are essential to their national aspirations. The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation is a blow to U.S. policy, and makes it more difficult for Washington to support a Palestinian state. Washington rightly regards Hamas as a terrorist organization for its decades-long involvement in attacks against Israeli civilians. The State Department lists Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, barring all formal diplomatic engagement with it. The Treasury Department also lists Hamas as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity, banning direct U.S. aid to all institutions in which Hamas is involved. Abbas knows this. So his decision to embrace Hamas was a deliberate choice to run around Israel and the U.S. The writer, a former intelligence analyst at the U.S. Treasury, is vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.