A short note from Palestine (Gershon Baskrin)

Alex Stein, FalseDichotomies.com

In the face of the continued stale-mate between Hamas and Fatah, both sides are weighing their options. This has been widely reported so I will not elaborate. One development, not reported at all, is that some senior personalities in Hamas have begun to develop some new ideas for a political process with Israel. The main idea being developed is a plan that would separate the 1967 issues from the 1948 ones, meaning a negotiation for the end of the occupation of the 1967 lands and then a much longer period of time to negotiate the issues concerning other final status issues and the end of conflict. The proposal being developed relates to the use of the Islamic notion of hudna – ceasefire – a short-term hudna for negotiating the end of the occupation and then a second longer-term hudna to immediately follow in order to negotiate over a long period of time issues concerning peace. These are very interesting developments within Hamas and warrant close observation as they unfold.