Palestinian Parliament Protest Breaks Out
Unrest in the West Bank continued on Wednesday as a meeting of the Palestinian Parliament in the capital of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Ramallah, was interrupted by workers demanding pay. The PA has been unable to pay the salaries of workers since running low on funds some time ago after the launching of a low-level war with Israel in late 2000, continuing through to the election of the terrorist group Hamas to take over the reins of government and the drying up of international aid. Since Hamas was elected, foreign donors have refused to transfer money to the Palestinian government until Hamas recognizes Israel and the Jewish State?s right to exist.
Elsewhere in the region, terrorists of the Fatah party and those of Hamas continued to clash in battles that seemed perilously close to breaking out into civil war, an outcome that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Hamas terrorist group wish publicly to avoid but privately must know is inevitable unless Hamas changes its stance ? which it has refused to do, as compromising on the principle of viewing Israel as an illegitimate state would likely lead to Hamas compromising on its goal of creating a Palestinian state ruled by repressive adherence to Islamic Sharia law.
Recently, President Abbas of the PA proposed a referendum to be sent to Palestinians as a way of bypassing the rejectionist Hamas government, but that idea has run into snags and doesn?t really address the necessity of not only recognizing Israel but also recognizing Israel?s right to exist. Israel insists that the Palestinian Authority adhere to the principles enshrined in the Road Map to peace, a document/plan that neither Israel nor the Palestinians have fully adhered to (though the Palestinians have been much more egregious in their violations of it), with Israel at least seeming to having good reason to not follow it ? if the Palestinians don?t follow it, why should the Israelis do so alone?
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