Paradigmatic Progress?

In the Wake of the Gaza War

By MOUIN RABBANI
CounterPunch

"....Ultimately, Abbas' confidence derives from his conviction that Obama will act where Bush failed and that active US engagement makes Israeli recalcitrance irrelevant and will enable him to outflank and marginalize Hamas - and, judging by his recent appointment of a government despite vehement opposition from within his own movement, Fatah as well.

While it stands to reason that Obama will seek to reinvigorate Bush's framework for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is far from clear this will prove a boon to the intended beneficiary.

For one, the Islamists have sufficient power on the ground to deal effectively with any effort to strengthen their rival and cut them down to size. Perhaps more importantly, Palestinian popular opinion, while not necessarily supportive of Hamas' own program, appears to be swinging decisively against any revival of a process that exists for its own sake rather than for an irreversible end to occupation."