Ramallah, June 2 – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas introduced the new unity government with Hamas today at a ceremony where the Hamas and Fatah ministers swore to fulfill their duties, while Israel just plain swore.
A festive atmosphere pervaded the government compound, where leaders from the rival factions put on a show for the cameras and the international community, promising a new era in intra-Palestinian governance, letting bygones be bygones and seeking to make Israel begone. Speakers invoked poetic descriptions of fraternity between Hamas and Fatah, two militant groups that warred in 2007, while Israel attempted to ward off the legitimacy of the unity government.
“This is a historic moment in the annals of the Palestinian people,” boasted Abbas.
“This is a bunch of terrorists in suits,” blasted Israeli cabinet minister Naftali Bennett.
Reaction to the unity government has fallen mostly along traditional lines, with staunch support in the Arab, Third World, and Russian spheres, a cautious welcome across Western Europe, skepticism in the US, and outright hostility in Israel, which for some reason views a government that includes a terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s destruction as undesirable. As the new government enjoys the spotlight, Israel has sought to enjoin others to shun it, with only mixed success so far.
Even the skeptics are keeping the door open for the possibility that Hamas might recognize Israel and renounce violence; in Europe, that open door is letting in tens of thousands of radical Muslim migrants annually from Africa. The wait-and-see attitude contributes to Israel’s sense of isolation as it tries to fend off the River-to-the-Sea attitude of its violent neighbors.
“This just gets tougher every year, I swear,” said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “And that should be understood as two unrelated statements.”
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