[WOSG]

Good to know, but let us all remember.

Arafat and his Fatah were *also* a terrorist group.
So the Palies had a choice between terrorist group A that sometimes warred against Israel and terrorist group B that always warred against Israel.

.. "Fatah was "never different from Hamas," said PLO political chief Farouq Al-Qaddoumi on January 3, 2003. "Strategically, we are no different from it.""

On NPR I heard about 10 minutes discussion on Hamas and the word "terrorist" was never used. A whitewash will happen.

Hamas, without changing one iota, will gain the 'respectability' of being the only player to talk to. ... Just like Arafat's position in the 1990s.

So cheer up! It's no worse than when Arafat the Terrorist was sitting across from the table! (er, that's sarcasm, folks)

[SJackson]

Arafat and his Fatah were *also* a terrorist group. So the Palies had a choice between terrorist group A that sometimes warred against Israel and terrorist group B that always warred against Israel.

Exactly. And virtually the entire palestinian population voted for war. They differed only on tactics.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Hamas, without changing one iota, will gain the 'respectability' of being the only player to talk to. ... Just like Arafat's position in the 1990s.

Exactly what we've been seeing (and I've been saying) for so long. And the willingness of the world to keep this pretense alive is putrid.