Wednesday May 17, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

There is no love lost between Jordan and Hamas.

Hamas was thrown out of Jordan and even today some of their highest level leaders are still not permitted entry. Most recently Jordan has accused Hamas of smuggling weapons into Jordan in order to then smuggle them across the border to attack Israel.
There have even been public confessions admitting to the smuggling operation.

So when Jordan's Foreign Minister, Adbul Ilah al Khatib, dressed down Hamas publicly, on network TV, it was to be expected - even though it is rare and always surprising to witness public disagreements among Arabs.
Khatib was not pulling any punches. He said that it was time for Hamas to "face up to their responsibilities and act as a government." He said that "they are responsible for the welfare of the Palestinian people."

Good move Jordan. Hamas will collapse only after Arab and Muslim countries start making serious demands on them.
Only then will local Palestinians see their leaders for who they truly are.