RAMALLAH, November 6 (JMCC) - As Palestinian factions
Hamas and
Fateh head for Damascus for talks on reconciliation, observers are nearly all pessimistic, expressing concern that neither side has made a strategic change necessary for the talks to succeed.
Al-Ahram Weekly lists a number of these views - those that stand out point to the remaining question of how Hamas members will participate in
West Bank security forces as apart of a mutual commitment to Palestinian security.
Israel is unlikely to accept such arrangements, and
al-Quds al-Arabi on Saturday reported that Israel has in fact warned the
Palestinian Authority that Hamas participation would force it to consider the security apparatuses hostile elements.
Undersecretary-general for the Islamic Jihad Movement Ziad Al-Nakhala voiced a more pessimistic forecast for the forthcoming inter-Palestinian dialogue. He said the PA insists that any change in the current security situation must only apply to Gaza on the grounds that the events that led to the Palestinian rift occurred in Gaza. He added that Israel, which supervises the PA's security agencies, would not permit Hamas's participation in those agencies. Al-Nakhala underlined that Hamas would not accept any condition that Fatah might later use to undermine and eliminate Hamas.
Read the article at al-Ahram Weekly...