A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the folly of Israel’s cooperation with the US in arming the Palestinian Fatah faction. Now, unsurprisingly, we read about what they will do with these weapons. Here is one point of view:
In an interview with WND, Fatah Force 17 security officer Abu Yousuf said some of the U.S. weapons his group received would be used against Hamas.
“The first place of these U.S. weapons will be to defend the Palestinian national project, which is reflected by the foundation of the Palestinian Authority. If Hamas or any other group under the influence of Iran and Syria wants to make a coup d’état against our institution, these weapons are there to defend the PA,” said Abu Yousuf.
“We don’t want to go to civil war with Hamas, because this is what both the U.S. and Israel want. This is our last option. We hope our brothers in Hamas won’t oblige us to find ourselves in confrontation,” Abu Yousuf said.
But the Fatah militant said the new American weapons may also be used to target Israelis.
“If Israel will deliver what it promised to Abu Mazen (Abbas), [meaning a] withdrawal from Palestinian lands, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, remove all the checkpoints in the West Bank, release our prisoners, and find a clear solution for our refugees, we’ll control our forces and the distribution of weapons.
“But if Israel doesn’t deliver, and we find ourselves manipulated by Israel, we cannot guarantee members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Force 17 will not use these weapons against Israel. Our goal is to change the occupation,” said Abu Yousuf.
“It’s unnatural to think these American weapons won’t be used against the Israelis,” he said. — from Aaron Klein in Worldnet Daily
Condoleeza Rice has been holding discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials in which she seems to be suggesting that the road map requirement for stopping terrorism and disarming terrorist militias need not be satisfied before proceeding to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Well, at least we are being consistent here.
Condeleeza Rice is at the moment putting on a show. This is for the Saudis, the Egyptians even the Jordanians. The aim is to gather as much Arab backing as possible for America’s continued operation in Iraq. There is no realistic possibility of any negotiation now. Why should Israel make any concession at all when the Palestinians still are headed by ‘Hamas’ which openly declares its intention to destroy Israel?
From Israel’s point of view, concessions do not make sense. I hope the US will be satisfied with the show as it is and not force Israel to do anything concrete.