Fatah Grows Up

Fatah is currently negotiating a deal with Israel which would grant amnesty to 178 Fatah gunmen and give them jobs in the official Palestinian security forces.

While at first it may seem a bit crazy to reward murderers with jobs instead of prison sentences, it really does make sense in the bigger picture.

These men must renounce terrorism, and most can be expected to uphold their promises. The actual document they sign, in Arabic, says this: “The Israeli security and judicial authorities will refrain from arresting or pursuing me after I sign this document. I must be committed to the decisions of the Palestinian Authority and its security apparatus … and refrain from carrying out any military or security activities against the Israelis.”

These men will be part of a security force used to protect the government of Palestine from Hamas terrorists. A prosperous and stable Palestine will be a much better neighbor for Israel than an out-of-control war zone. These men will redirect their energies from murdering Israeli’s to protecting their own nation.

These events remind me most of a quote from Moshe Dayan, “If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”