August 27th, 2008 by Adam

Gamal A. G. Soltan in the Daily Star describes the nationalist-Islamist divide among Palestinians as “the Middle East’s cold war,” but argues that efforts to reconcile the factions should not be abandoned, as lasting peace cannot occur with rivaling Palestinian “mini-states.” The author argues that “the Middle East peace process is the main factor that could produce the desired effect.”

Daniel Levy in the Daily Star argues political infighting among the Palestinian leadership threatens Israeli interests in a two-state solution and permanent borders. Levy warns that “as Palestinians lose hope in the peace process, and look despairingly at both the Fatah and Hamas leaderships, there is a danger of extremist Al-Qaeda-style alternatives emerging.” As such, Levy recommends that Israel take a “hands-off approach to Palestinian domestic politics,” create “practical working arrangements”, and attend to the “chronic erosion of the rule of law in Israeli society.”

Walid Salem also touches upon the conflict between Fatah and Hamas in relation to the Israeli release of prisoners. Because Israel is dealing with the Palestinian Authority for Fatah prisoners, and Hamas for the rest, Salem warms that “a side effect of this is that it will certainly give Hamas a new weapon in its propaganda war against Abbas, enabling the Islamist movement to portray him as the representative of Fatah only and not all the Palestinian people.”

Posted in Hamas, Israel, Mideast Peace Plan, Palestine |