Hamas softening throws twist in talks
Secretary of State Rice, in the Middle East ahead of next month's peace talks, says Hamas has no role.
from the October 17, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Rice was in Cairo Tuesday in an attempt to shore up Arab support for an international conference. According to the Associated Press, the secretary won tempered Egyptian support in her quest to bring Israelis and Palestinians to the table. One of the sticking points is whether the two sides arrive with a defined outline of principles to be addressed.
"We will continue to work and help them to create this document and we will then be in a position I think fairly soon to talk about when this meeting ought to take place," Rice said, as the actual date of the meeting has not yet been set.
On Monday in Ramallah, after a meeting with Abbas, Rice said that there would be no involvement of Hamas in the upcoming meeting.
"We've been very clear what the criteria are for involvement in this process," she said. "If you're going to have a two-state solution, you have to accept the right of the other party to exist. If you're going to have a two-state solution that is born of negotiation, you're going to have to renounce violence."
Hamas, while it has expressed some openness regarding talks with both Israel and Fatah, does not recognize the right of Israel to exist.
Harder-line players in Hamas have been critical of the conciliatory messages coming out of their prime minister's office, an indication that there may be a growing split in Hamas between ideologues and pragmatists. Others argue that Hamas is merely testing the waters, trying to see how its supporters will react.
"Hamas is ready to sit at the negotiating table if it is convinced that a political achievement can be made," Mr. Hamad said Tuesday. "But the general impression manifested by the current Israeli policy doesn't give any positive sign."
Those messages are not exactly enthusiastic. But they are some of the first indications from Hamas that suggest an openness to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and are being viewed by observers with a combination of interest and caution. Since 1993, when the news of the Oslo Accords broke, Hamas has consistently rejected the peace process as contrary to Islamic ideals and Palestinian national goals.
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