"It is by no means clear that Hamas and Fatah will be able to reconcile their differences in the five weeks allotted to Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haneyah under the constitution to form a new government. The result would likely be new elections, which would be the Palestinians’ best hope of getting a pragmatic, practical government focused on solving their problems and of laying the foundations at the peace table for the state they have fought for so long to achieve."
(Globe & Mail: The Palestinians’ move, Feb. 20)
"It might have been better billed as another exercise in futility and cynicism, something to which the Middle East is no stranger… The course is still clear, however, for those who choose to see it. The question today is: Why is a unity government that denies Israel its right to exist to be preferred over a Hamas government that denies Israel its right to exist? The answer is obvious, and until the Palestinians acknowledge that Israel does in fact have that right, neither Canada nor any other donor nation should be duped into resuming aid to the Palestinian Authority"
(Winnipeg Free Press: Clouding the Mideast, Feb. 20)
"A year ago, the Palestinians chose to vote in Hamas, an organization designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., EU and Israel, sparking the crisis triggered by the freezing of foreign aid. Hamas?s unwillingness to drop its official extremist position has left foreign donors with little option, for they cannot reasonably be expected to financially back terrorists. Nor should they waver on that point. Unless Hamas agrees to recognize reality, that Israel is in the Middle East to stay, it should not receive foreign aid."
(Chronicle Herald: No closer to peace, Feb. 20)
