« Official reconstruction | Main | "Look East," stay stable »
March 29, 2005
Hamas/PLO
Is this for real?
Resistance group Hamas has reiterated its readiness to join the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which groups together all the major Palestinian factions.
Mahmud Zahar, one of the main leaders of the resistance group, said on Monday that disagreements over the PLO charter and the size of Hamas' representation in the council had delayed its incorporation.
"Our decision to participate in the PLO is not new. It is a longstanding and clear decision," Zahar said after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in the Gaza City.[emphasis mine]
I'm no expert on Palestinean politics, but if legit, this would strike me as a rather big deal. As for the obvious stumbling block -- Hamas rejecting the existence of Israel, the PLO accepting it -- Zahar said, "we are renouncing not one iota of Palestinian land but we can reach a temporary compromise with other factions."
Posted by Daniel Widome at 06:38 PM to Middle East
