ICAR News Network - Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

ICAR News Network

Views on Whether US and Israel Shoul Talk to Hamas
Marc Gopin, ICAR Professor
Posted: 04/04/08

[Published, Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 2008] In response to the March 25 article, "Should the world talk to Hamas?": Stimulating wars is the outgoing American administration's lasting legacy. To its dying day, the administration has sent a clear message that not only is Israel not to negotiate with Hamas, but neither can Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president.

When PA representatives reached agreement with Hamas in Yemen to return Gaza to the status quo ante, it was quickly retracted under pressure from donor countries. This, together with evidence outlined in a Vanity Fair magazine article regarding the administration's failed efforts to stage a coup in Gaza that led to Hamas's rise to power, would suggest an astonishing reality: The United States wants a Palestinian civil war.

T his is how far neoconservative ideology will go to prevent the inconvenient truth that talking to enemies whose behavior you despise is what statecraft and diplomacy are all about, and have been for thousands of years, with often successful results. Yasser Arafat was once Ismail Haniyeh [senior political leader of Hamas] and the Palestinian Liberation Organization was once Hamas, and we lost decades in cycles of violence by not talking. In the end, we talked.

Whoever you ban from the table of negotiation turns that table over. We can talk to Hamas without undermining the Palestinian Authority.

Marc Gopin
Arlington, Va

Director,
Center on Religion, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

News Network Homepage / Armenia / 2008 Elections / Afghanistan / Diplomacy/ Egypt / Environment / Global Peace Index / Health / Immigration / Iraq / Iran / Islam / Kosovo / Nuclear Proliferation / Pakistan / Palestine-Israel / Russia / Somalia / South America / Turkey /




ICAR News Network Views on Whether US and Israel Shoul Talk to Hamas Marc Gopin, ICAR Professor Posted: 04/04/08 [Published, Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 2008] In response to the March 25 article, "Should the world talk to Hamas?": Stimulating wars is the outgoing American administration's lasting legacy. To its dying day, the administration has sent a clear message that not only is Israel not to negotiate with Hamas, but neither can Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. When PA representatives reached agreement with Hamas in Yemen to return Gaza to the status quo ante, it was quickly retracted under pressure from donor countries. This, together with evidence outlined in a Vanity Fair magazine article regarding the administration's failed efforts to stage a coup in Gaza that led to Hamas's rise to power, would suggest an astonishing reality: The United States wants a Palestinian civil war. T his is how far neoconservative ideology will go to prevent the inconvenient truth that talking to enemies whose behavior you despise is what statecraft and diplomacy are all about, and have been for thousands of years, with often successful results. Yasser Arafat was once Ismail Haniyeh [senior political leader of Hamas] and the Palestinian Liberation Organization was once Hamas, and we lost decades in cycles of violence by not talking. In the end, we talked. Whoever you ban from the table of negotiation turns that table over. We can talk to Hamas without undermining the Palestinian Authority. Marc Gopin Arlington, Va Director, Center on Religion, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution News Network Homepage / Armenia / 2008 Elections / Afghanistan / Diplomacy/ Egypt / Environment / Global Peace Index / Health / Immigration / Iraq / Iran / Islam / Kosovo / Nuclear Proliferation / Pakistan / Palestine-Israel / Russia / Somalia / South America / Turkey /		About ICAR Student Information Prospective Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Career Services Academic Programs Library ICAR In The News Events Technology Resources ICAR Publications Point Of View Center Center for World Religions, Diplomacy & Conflict Resolution