[Jerusalem Post] Editorial - Sderot lies entirely within the "green line." Even those who beseech Israel's government to negotiate with Hamas, despite its overt dedication to Israel's destruction, do not question the legitimacy of Sderot as an incontestable part of Israel. The fact that Sderot is publicly described by Hamas as a usurping "Zionist settlement" underlines the problematics of dialogue. You negotiate with your enemies, but it is wrongheaded to negotiate with enemies implacably committed to your destruction. Dialogue with Hamas has been rightly conditioned by Israel, and most of the international community, on Hamas recognizing Israel's right to exist, accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements and disavowing terrorism. The notion of Hamas actually meeting these conditions seems all but unthinkable. The notion of Israel legitimizing Hamas in the absence of such a fundamental shift in its orientation - and thus opening the door to the widespread international legitimization of Hamas, with the accompanying assistance that would ensure the sustaining of Hamas rule in Gaza and its strengthening in the West Bank, to the detriment of any and all moderate alternatives - is still more unthinkable.
2008-02-25 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive