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Getting real

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas has at long last undertaken the much needed course correction in engaging in talks with Hamas. With the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade playing the role of facilitator, representatives of the Islamist outfit and Mr. Abbas’s Fatah met in Dakar in the first week of June after a gap of several months. While there was no breakthrough, some ground was certainly covered, reflecting in the assertion that they had succeeded in restoring “an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.” Given the animosity that has characterised the relationship between the two Palestinian factions ever since Hamas drove Fatah out of the Gaza Strip in mid-2007, this is a welcome development. More important is the signal that Mr. Abbas has at last shaken off the delusion that he can continue to treat the Islamists with disdain. For much of the past year, the Palestinian Authority had maintained that it would enter into a dialogue only if Hamas restored the status quo ante in the Gaza Strip. This was an unrealistic expectation given that the Islamists had demonstrated their solid political base by winning parliamentary elections in early 2006. But Mr. Abbas, egged on by the United States and Israel, had for far too long been unwilling to recognise that Hamas had become a near co-equal partner with Fatah in the leadership of Palestinian society. The participation by Fatah in the Dakar talks indicates that Mr. Abbas has finally jettisoned his reluctance and accepted the ground realities.

While Israel might not be very comfortable with the Fatah-Hamas dialogue, it is not really in a position to complain too loudly. With Egypt playing the role of go-between, the Zionist state and the Islamists are negotiating the terms of a ceasefire to end the strife along the seam of the Gaza Strip. A swap of prisoners would inevitably form a core part of any likely deal yet, given the wide gap between the positions of the two sides, the negotiations are likely to be difficult. Hamas insists that it will release the lone Israeli soldier in its custody only if Israel frees a large number of Palestinian prisoners. Yet it is possible to envisage a route out of this impasse. Israel is holding parallel talks with the Palestinian Authority that aim at a comprehensive peace by the end of 2008. Although that deadline will almost certainly not be met, Israel could hand over the prisoners to the Palestinian Authority, thereby boosting its preferred negotiating partner. Hamas’s demand could also be met at the same time. Such a gesture would enable forward movement in resolving the trickier political questions.

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