Fatah Leaders Choose Peace with Hamas, Not Israel

By Joel C. Rosenberg

The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Sadly, true peace has not yet come to either Israeli Jews or the Palestinian Arabs. Nor does a lasting and just peace between the two sides seem close at hand.

The leaders of the beleaguered Palestinian people chose to embrace terrorists on Wednesday, not the road to real peace and reconciliation. What a tragedy. Instead of spending the last 18 months engaging in peace talks with Israel, we now learn that PLO “Fatah” chairman Mahmoud Abbas has spent the last several months engaged in secret peace talks with rival Hamas, the radical Islamic terrorist group that calls for the annihilation of the Jewish State. The talks, brokered by Egyptian intelligence, concluded with an announcement Wednesday that Fatah and Hamas have sealed a unity agreement that some reporters are describing as “an historic reconciliation deal.”

In theory, the deal helps pave the way for the Palestinians soon to unilaterally declare a state encompassing the Fatah-controlled territory of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza, and assert their capital in East Jerusalem. They will claim that their newfound unity signals they are ready to govern themselves and assume the responsibilities of statehood. In reality, it is a shotgun wedding, at best. Fatah and Hamas leaders have historically not only hated each other but gunned each other down in broad daylight. When Hamas took over Gaza in 2005 and 2006, it set into motion a bloodbath, killing scores of Fatah officials and party members, even throwing some off of high rise buildings. What’s more, avoiding diplomatic negotiations with Israel and asking the U.N. General Assembly in September to force a final settlement on Israel is not a recipe for serious conflict resolution. To the contrary, the danger is it could lead to a new outbreak of new hostilities.

“The Palestinian Authority has to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas,” Prime Minister Netanyahu told reporters. “Peace with both of them is impossible, because Hamas aspires to destroy the state of Israel and says so openly.” Netanyahu added: “Hamas fires rockets at our cities and anti-tank missiles at our children. I think the mere idea of reconciliation demonstrates the Palestinian Authority’s weakness, and brings up the question of whether Hamas will take over Judea and Samaria as it did Gaza.”

• Please pray for the Palestinian people to be set free from leaders who keep guiding them towards terror, not peace

• Please pray for Palestinians who love the Lord Jesus Christ to emerge as true peacemakers and to seek Biblical reconciliation with Israeli Jews generally, and Jewish believers in Jesus in particular

• Please pray for Israeli believers in Jesus — as well as Christians around the world — to develop a heart of understanding and compassion for the suffering of the Palestinian people and to seek to be true peacemakers and agents of Biblical reconciliation

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