[Peace-discuss] Can Mitchell Succeed? Let Him Talk to Hamas

[Morton K. Brussel]

I've read your article, which I think helpful. However, I take some  
exception to your blending the responsibility for the invasion of Gaza  
and its consequences on both the Palestinians and the Israelis,  
despite your emphasis that the Israelis did most of the damage.

I must use a metaphor: If a beast is strangling a victim, and the  
victim resists by kicking out, do you blame the victim for his/her  
actions or do you let blame fall entirely on the beast? Should the  
victim not resist--kick out? Is it a gamble to resist in this case?
The metaphor seems pertinent.

But perhaps you are just being politic to be "evenhanded" on the  
killing and discomfort of a few Israelis and the thousands of  
Palestinians.

I do not wish to broach the topic of how (un)wise Hamas has been in  
all this.
--mkb

On Feb 11, 2009, at 2:36 PM, Robert Naiman wrote:

> Mitchell needs more support, in part because at the moment it's far
> from obvious whether Washington will let Mitchell be Mitchell. He's
> been praised for his work in the Northern Ireland peace process, but
> for all the difficulties Mitchell faced in Northern Ireland, there was
> one thing he could count on: no-one prevented him from talking to one
> of the key parties in the conflict. Mitchell talked to Gerry Adams and
> Martin McGuinness, leaders of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the
> Irish Republican Army, considered at the time [with obvious
> justification] by the British, the U.S. and the Protestant leadership
> in Northern Ireland to be a terrorist group. Today, Sinn Fein is part
> of the Northern Ireland government. But at the moment, Mitchell's not
> allowed to talk to Ismail Haniyeh or other members of the political
> leadership of Hamas, even though they won the 2006 Palestinian
> legislative elections and constitute the de facto government of Gaza.
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/can-mitchell-succeed-let_b_165936.html
>
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/11/152026/893
>
> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39738
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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