Forgotten leader? Palestinian PM

".....when the fighting in Lebanon subsides, all eyes will return to the state of the Palestinians, both in the geographical and metaphysical sense: that is, to the inevitable but seemingly unreachable Palestinian state-to-be; and to the Palestinian state of affairs, including the fate of Haniyeh, one of those rare democratically elected Arab prime ministers.

Given Hamas's enormous appeal, no peace is possible without it—the failed Oslo peace accords proved that. Whatever the outcome, then, when the rubble from Gaza's latest trauma is pushed to one side—in Gaza, rubble is only moved, never cleared away—and the dust from all the rubble in Lebanon has settled, Hamas will remain. The questions at the core of whatever happens in the Middle East are what—or who—Hamas will be, whether Haniyeh will still be a part of it, and, if so, what role he will want, or be allowed, to play."

This article, in Vanity Fair, analyses not only the state of play for Hamas in the wider context of the present issues confronting the Middle East, but the position of the Palestinian PM Haniyeh. The author speculates on how things might pan out for the PM and Hamas.

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