tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post557773334136226562..comments2023-10-26T06:29:39.824-07:00Comments on The Magnes Zionist: End the Siege, End the Rocket FireJerry Haberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15173892714754718716noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post-19885688751535669372009-01-03T10:08:00.000-08:002009-01-03T10:08:00.000-08:00Neither Hamas nor Fatah have accepted monetary com...Neither Hamas nor Fatah have accepted monetary compensation in place of the right of return. We know more about the Palestinian Authority's position -- Hamas has never negotiated with Israel, nor Israel with it.<BR/><BR/>I wouldnt say that Israel is happy to engage with Fatah. Israel under Sharon did not negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, ruled by the Fatah. Secondly, when the PLO sounded like a secular version of Hamas, Israel didn't engage with them, but bombed the hell out of them in Beirut and assassinated their leaders. The PLO made a strategic decision to accept the two-state solution in 1988 and they were still hounded by Israel until the Oslo agreement.<BR/><BR/>I could say more, but you could find out about this for yourself using google and wikipedia.Jerry Haberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15173892714754718716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post-28467744052368298802009-01-01T07:57:00.000-08:002009-01-01T07:57:00.000-08:00I am the Anonymous from the last comment. Thanks f...I am the Anonymous from the last comment. Thanks for the references. <BR/>I have some more questions. Would greatly help if you can help me understand this issue better.<BR/><BR/>1) Are we sure that, wrt to the refugee questions, all that Hamas wants is only the 'option' of return? Is Hamas willing to consider financial compensation instead of right of return? <BR/><BR/>I can kind of appreciate the Israeli concern that any offer for peace which necessarily insists on the right of return is just a veiled way of saying - 'we dont really want peace since we know that Israel cannot afford to accept the right of return'.<BR/><BR/><BR/>2) If there is no difference between Fatah and Hamas on the right of return issue - then, why is Israel happy to engage with Fatah but not Hamas?<BR/>Surely, it cannot just be the fact that Fatah recognizes Israel's right to exist. Like you said, it doesnt matter whether there is a recognition of this right or not. The most important issue is peace. Surely Olmert, Livni and Barak can appreciate this - being the pragmatists that they are supposed to be?<BR/><BR/>Thanks.<BR/><BR/>p.s. I am just trying to understand this conflict more thoroughly than it is presented by the press. I do not intend to be disrespectful or mocking with these questions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post-58098940434038139242009-01-01T00:52:00.000-08:002009-01-01T00:52:00.000-08:00Dear Kathy,Thank you for your thank you. JerryDear Kathy,<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your thank you. <BR/><BR/>JerryJerry Haberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15173892714754718716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post-88708541077970497792009-01-01T00:51:00.000-08:002009-01-01T00:51:00.000-08:00Anonymous, it should be common knowledge, and if i...Anonymous, it should be common knowledge, and if it isn't, it takes two seconds on Google to find sources. Here is an article from Haaretz that reports of Haniyeh's letter to Bush in 2006<BR/><BR/>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037258.html<BR/><BR/>and here<BR/><BR/>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html<BR/><BR/>Israel's rejection can be found here of the long-term truce.<BR/><BR/>http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-02/Israel-Rejects-Hamas-Conditions-for-Long-term-Truce.cfm?CFID=83959610&CFTOKEN=67407094<BR/><BR/>Of course, the main problem is how one interprets and implements the right of the Palestinians to retun to their homes. But my point was simply that Hamas has repeatedly said that it will be willing to live alongside Israel provided that the occupation is ended, and the refugees are given the option to return to their homes. On this there is no difference between Hamas and Fatah.<BR/><BR/>Where they differ is that Fatah is willing to recognize Israel's legimitacy; Hamas is not -- only a long-term truce. Since Israel's Jewish fundamentalists also don't recognize the legitimacy of Palestinian claims to Eretz Yisrael, I understand Hamas and, frankly, don't understand Israel's concerns -- or have any sympathy for its existential angst on this point.Jerry Haberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15173892714754718716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post-8189020650379270922008-12-31T18:08:00.000-08:002008-12-31T18:08:00.000-08:00"Hamas has already laid out the conditions – reaso..."Hamas has already laid out the conditions – reasonable conditions, I might add – for its living in peace with Israel: withdrawal to 67 boundaries and a just solution to the refugees."<BR/><BR/>Can you provide me with a reference for this? Is this common knowledge?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7675600882597316438.post-28196465936496868232008-12-31T08:36:00.000-08:002008-12-31T08:36:00.000-08:00Dear Jerry,Thank you for being just so...sane here...Dear Jerry,<BR/><BR/>Thank you for being just so...sane here and in facing down so sanely the insane comments you sometimes receive. We need sanity right now more than ever, something in critically short supply. Happy New Year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com