March 20, 2006
Crash
It was recently reported that a delegation from Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, was invited over to Moscow for a “crash course in diplomacy.”
I appreciate irony whenever I run across it, but I must say that the newspaper’s unfortunate choice of metaphor doesn’t hold out a lot of hope. I suppose, however, it may be appropriate enough, considering the current urgencies. To their credit, the Russians did give the delegates a pointed warning at the outset that their organization must recognize Israel and also dismantle its militias or face isolation.
It is Hamas, remember, that has implied that the best way to recognize Israel is to abolish it. They didn’t say how, but considering their customary reconciliatory ways and all the WMD talk on both sides of the ocean, it doesn’t take too much imagination.
The story didn’t say whose idea it was for the Russians and the Palestinians to get together and play nice, but maybe it’s a good sign, anyhow. On the other hand, geopoliticians who know about these sorts of things have been puzzled that the Palestinian electorate would in the first place choose leaders who are not exactly known for their diplomacy. It could be though, that maybe they’ve just been observing the way we choose ours. Our brand of preëmptive diplomacy, the kind we’re so fond of staging for the Middle East, could be just the ticket. Shock and aw shucks.