Unabated, largely ignored, and with a glaring absence of any negative response from the international community, the Palestinian Authority continues to spurn its Oslo Accords obligation to fight terror, actually holding reconciliation meetings with the worst of the Palestinian terrorist organizations - the Hamas. The talks - which originally began several months ago before being halted after a major IDF strike against Hamas - have resumed in Cairo under the auspices of Egypt, the US and the European Union, with the purported aim of reaching a ?ceasefire? agreement between Hamas and Yasser Arafat?s Fatah, the dominant force within the PA. Ostensibly, the talks are aimed at securing an agreement with Hamas that the latter group cease attacks on Israeli civilians living within the pre-1967 borders of the Jewish State - leaving the Jewish ?settlers? of Judea, Samaria and Gaza as legitimate targets (Needless to say there has been no recorded outrage at the awarding of legitimacy, directly or indirectly, to the killing of Jews anywhere).
Hamas officials, of course, see the meetings quite differently. Insisting that they will continue their attacks against Israelis everywhere, they maintain that their presence in Cairo is purely to help formulate a unified Palestinian front in the terrorist war being waged against Israel. Even Arafat?s own Fatah al-Aksa Brigades have openly rejected any ?ceasefire? that would limit the range of Israeli targets, making the Cairo talks all but laughable, considering the PA?s refusal to openly confront the violent strains of its society. Those strains, coincidentally, make up 70 percent of the Palestinian population, according to recent polls.
Nonetheless, the very holding of such negotiations flies in the face of the much-acclaimed Oslo ?peace? agreements.
Article XIV, as well as Annex I, of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (Oslo II) states that one of the primary duties of the Palestinian security forces is to ensure that no other armed forces, be they individuals or organizations, exist or operate out of PA-controlled territories. What this means is that the PA is obligated to dismantle all armed terrorists and terrorist organizations, if necessary utilizing the force given it by Israel and the West for, among other things, this very purpose. Negotiating ceasefires with such groups is not an option afforded by the Oslo Accords.
Because of this discrepancy, talks such as those being held in Cairo subsequently leave terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad free to continue rejecting those stipulations of the accords calling on the Palestinians to officially recognize and cease attacking Israel. That the US and Europe - major brokers and supporters of the ?peace? process - are overseeing the Cairo talks, only highlights further the complete bankruptcy of the Oslo Accords.
As long as the international community turns a blind eye to continual Palestinian violations of signed agreements - violations that result in Israeli deaths - the PA can be expected to brazenly spurn its obligations. Palestinian spokesmen often say that the US and the West hold the key to calm in the region, and they are right - that key is nothing less than holding the Palestinians accountable to the promises they have made.
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Ryan Jones is News Editor of Jerusalem Newswire.
Hamas officials, of course, see the meetings quite differently. Insisting that they will continue their attacks against Israelis everywhere, they maintain that their presence in Cairo is purely to help formulate a unified Palestinian front in the terrorist war being waged against Israel. Even Arafat?s own Fatah al-Aksa Brigades have openly rejected any ?ceasefire? that would limit the range of Israeli targets, making the Cairo talks all but laughable, considering the PA?s refusal to openly confront the violent strains of its society. Those strains, coincidentally, make up 70 percent of the Palestinian population, according to recent polls.
Nonetheless, the very holding of such negotiations flies in the face of the much-acclaimed Oslo ?peace? agreements.
Article XIV, as well as Annex I, of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (Oslo II) states that one of the primary duties of the Palestinian security forces is to ensure that no other armed forces, be they individuals or organizations, exist or operate out of PA-controlled territories. What this means is that the PA is obligated to dismantle all armed terrorists and terrorist organizations, if necessary utilizing the force given it by Israel and the West for, among other things, this very purpose. Negotiating ceasefires with such groups is not an option afforded by the Oslo Accords.
Because of this discrepancy, talks such as those being held in Cairo subsequently leave terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad free to continue rejecting those stipulations of the accords calling on the Palestinians to officially recognize and cease attacking Israel. That the US and Europe - major brokers and supporters of the ?peace? process - are overseeing the Cairo talks, only highlights further the complete bankruptcy of the Oslo Accords.
As long as the international community turns a blind eye to continual Palestinian violations of signed agreements - violations that result in Israeli deaths - the PA can be expected to brazenly spurn its obligations. Palestinian spokesmen often say that the US and the West hold the key to calm in the region, and they are right - that key is nothing less than holding the Palestinians accountable to the promises they have made.
---------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Jones is News Editor of Jerusalem Newswire.