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| Posted: April 23, 2008 |
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Last Friday, former President Jimmy Carter met with Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas -- the group that currently controls much of the Gaza Strip. Two experts on the Middle East answered your questions. |
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| David Podesta of Dunolly, Victoria, Australia, asked Rob Satloff: |
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| You seemed to expect that Hamas must acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist (which is fair enough, as all have this basic right), yet you contradict this stance with regard to Hamas. This seemed to portray a double standard on your part. |
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| Rob Satloff responds: |
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 Mr. Podesta, I believe you have your pronouns in error. It is not Rob Satloff who has defined terms for Hamas' participation in peace process diplomacy; it is U.S. law and the policies of the major powers that play a role in this diplomacy (i.e., the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations). All these parties have agreed that there is an entry ticket for engagement in the peace process: acceptance of Israel's right to exist, renunciation of violence and terrorism, and affirmation of all previous signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. As far as the justice of these conditions, the matter is simply one of equity: Palestinians seek from Israel the tangible commodity of land; Israel seeks from Palestinians the intangible commodity of recognition and acceptance. The conditions reflect this structural imbalance of interests. |
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Mid-East Experts Answer Questions |
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| MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL |
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| WORLD VIEW |
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