A week ago, Hamas went out of its way to disassociate itself with Hezbollah in Lebanon, leaking to the press that they understood the danger of linking its conflict with the Iranian/Syrian proxy in the north. Later, however, they floated an idea to team up with Hezbollah on prisoner swaps. Today, Mahmoud Abbas explicitly rejects that sentiment, announcing that they will not work with Hezbollah on negotiations:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday his government has no intention of teaming up with Shi'ite Hizboullah on negotiating the release of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. ...

[...]

That's the good news. The bad news is that, according to Abbas, Israel has agreed in principle to release Palestinian prisoners first in a trade for Gilad Shalit. ...

[Read on.]

No, damn it! Rewarding bad behavior just leads to more, and a prisoner exchange will just guarantee more kidnappings. Ari, where are you when the world needs you?

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 29, 2006 at 10:46 AM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink

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