Does Obama Really Differ From Carter?

Very nice: Obama scored some points by dissing his "Elder":

In a statement issued today by Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki the Senator does not agree with Carter sitting down with Hamas, "Senator Obama does not agree with President Carter's decision to go forward with this meeting because he does not support negotiations with Hamas until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. As President, Obama will negotiate directly with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas."

That's an odd way of putting it. I assume Obama means that he will support Israeli negotiations with Abbas, not that the US itself has anything to negotiate for with Abbas. But putting that aside, isn't there a bit of a contradiction there?

Just how different is Abbas from Hamas?

On the issue of renouncing terrorism, Abbas said

"Now we are against armed conflict because we are unable. In the future stages, things may be different..."

If Obama will not speak to Hamas because they do not recognize Israel--why would he go ahead and speak with Abbas, who does not recognize Israel either?

Joel Mowbray pointed out last month:

Discussing the question of whether or not Hamas must “recognize” Israel, Mr. Abbas explained, “I don't demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. I only demanded of the [Palestinian] national unity government that would work opposite Israel in recognition of it.”

This comment raised eyebrows because it shifted the common understanding of what it means to “recognize” the Jewish state. Most understand “recognition” to be fairly straightforward: The acknowledgment of the right of Israel to exist peacefully as a Jewish state neighboring a Palestinian one. Mr. Abbas, however, now defines “recognition” as acknowledging in a literal sense that an entity named “Israel” is the country at the other end of the negotiating table.

Mr. Abbas does not deserve the benefit of the doubt on this count. Defending his “recognition” of Israel on TV network Al-Arabiya in October 2006, he explained that it was more a practical reality than a meaningful political position. He cited as an example the need for the PA to get $500 million from Israel: “The Palestinian finance minister has to come to an agreement with the Israeli finance minister about the transfer of the money. So how can he make an agreement with him if [the PA finance minister] does not recognize him? So I do not demand of Hamas nor any other to recognize Israel. But from the government that works with Israelis in day to day life, yes.”

In other words, Mr. Abbas only recognizes Israel when money is on the line, but not in the way the U.S. and Israel think he does.

This is not something out of the blue. The Jerusalem Post addressed this issue back in November:

Now, on the eve of Annapolis, we discover that all of these claims of recognition may have been a giant sham.

On Monday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, "The problem of the content of the document [setting out joint principles for peacemaking post-Annapolis] has not been resolved... One of the more pressing problems is the Zionist regime's insistence on being recognized as a Jewish state.

"We will not agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state," Erekat said. "There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined."

On Tuesday, another prominent Palestinian negotiator, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said, "It is only a Zionist party that deals with Israel as a Jewish state, and we did not request to be a member of the international Zionism movement."

Yesterday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad joined in these statements. And Erekat chimed in again on Al-Arabiya TV: "Israel can define itself however it sees fit; and if it wishes to call itself a Jewish state, so be it. But the Palestinians will never acknowledge Israel's Jewish identity." (emphasis added).

So just what kind of recognition would Obama demand of Hamas that he appears not to require of Abbas?

For that matter, what agreement has been kept or confidence measure been adopted by Abbas that would give any indication that Abbas sees these talks with Israel as being negotiations--and not as terms of surrender?

Abbas is a gift to presidential candidates that allows them to appeal to both the Jewish and Muslim communities.

Just ask Obama.

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