Robert Dreyfuss: "Several top Obama officials are proponents of detente with Hamas and Hezbollah"

[Better Believe It]

- The report by Robert Dreyfuss is very good news -

Talking to Hamas | Does Obama have the courage to accept a Palestinian unity government?
by Robert Dreyfuss
The Nation
April 23, 2009

Given that the new Israeli government is an inflexible bunch of hardliners, the best area for the Obama administration to make progress in the Israel-Palestine conflict is for the United States to either encourage or accede to the creation of a Palestinian unity government.

Such a government would include both Fatah and Hamas. Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia have tried in the past to secure a Fatah-Hamas accord. Under President Bush, the United States said it would not deal with any government that includes Hamas. In 2007, President Bush sabotaged a nascent Fatah-Hamas deal brokered by Saudi Arabia. So the question is: is the Obama administration showing any willingness to finesse the ban on Hamas?

For the Israelis, and the Israel lobby, any US-Hamas detente crosses a red line.

Several top Obama officials are proponents of a detente with Hamas and Hezbollah, including John Brennan, the deputy national security adviser. Dan Shapiro, the senior director for the Middle East at the NSC, is said to be open to the idea. Will Obama have the courage to do what's necessary? A good first step: the president should say, in public, that he'd welcome efforts by US allies in the Arab world, to broker an accord between Hamas and Fatah.

Please read the entire article at:

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/429915/talking_to_hamas?rel=hpbox


-----------------------------------

Hamas chief hails Obama approach
BBC News
22 March 2009

The political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has credited US President Barack Obama with using a "new language" for the Middle East. Speaking to an Italian newspaper Mr Meshaal also said that an official opening to his Palestinian Islamist movement was only "a matter of time".

Mr Meshaal, speaking in an interview with La Repubblica, said "a new language towards the region is coming from President Obama". "The challenge for everybody is for this to be the prelude for a genuine change in US and European policies," Mr Meshaal said.

"The great powers need us to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict," Mr Meshaal told La Repubblica.

"Our weight in resolving the Palestinian question stems from our roots in society, in the people who have voted for us and who will do so again."

Please read the complete article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7958037.stm


Khaled Meshaal said the great powers needed Hamas

[LooseWilly]

1. Recognizing democratically elected leaders.

What a novel concept...

[Sensitivity]

3. Shocking! SHOCKING! -- Next thing they will recognize Chavez!

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. I'm a proponent of detente with Hamas and Hezbollah

Detente is another way of saying "nobody gettin' they ass killed." Isn't that a good thing?

[Better Believe It]

4. Don't let defenders of Israeli right-wing extremists see your post!

Of course it's a good thing!

[The Magistrate]

8. Something On That Line Is Probably Going To Have To Be Tried, Sir

Special Envoy Mitchell is on record as holding the view, base on experience in Northern Ireland, that clear recognition of the other side's right to exist should not be a precondition on either side for negotiations, and at this point, neither party can honestly claim to extend that to the other. The new team in Washington ought to be given a chance to try things its way. Certainly no one can point to any real success derived from earlier lines of policy. It is important that going forward our government keep a clear eye on U.S. interests, which are not necessarily those of a Likud government in Isreal.

[Undercurrent]

5. Detente has always been the Obama message.

Whether with a group, country, region or the world. A formal period of diplomatic detente with Hamas and/or Hezbollah remains to be seen, but it's not impossible now. Unlike Bush who led with a fist, Obama has extended an open hand. Now it's up to the world to respond.

[Danger Mouse]

6. Hmm...dare I say it, but it seems you've posted a somewhat positive article.

Well done. :hi:
Incidentally, I think President Obama will (and should) work with Hezbollah and Hamas towards peaceful solutions, as far as is reasonable for all parties.

[Better Believe It]

7. I've posted many positive articles. What's your point?

The question now is will Obama take on the Israeli lobby and right-wing regime that currently rules Israel?

I hope he does. Time will tell. Based upon President Obama's response to Israeli demands that he boycott the UN anti-racism conference, I have my doubts.

I was disappointed along with the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and many others when President Obama caved in to the Israeli
right-wing (hardliners) demands when he boycotted the UN Conference on combating racism.

Of course, supporters of Israeli "hardliners" on DU were not about to attack the NAACP, CBC and black leaders in their posts, so they engaged in a wave of coordinated personal attacks against me consisting of outright lies and falsifications along with personal appeals to moderators to ban the posting of any articles on DU by me that expressed any criticism of President Obama's policies!

That's how they play the game when they can't challenge or refute the content of articles they disagree with.