America in the 1970s was fighting Communism around the world. One of its biggest enemy was the People's Republic of China. Official policy was to boycott and isolate the Chinese government. Any talk of thawing relations generally came from Democrats who were shouted down by the Republicans. Everyone assumed that any breakthrough would have to come from a Democratic president. Who would ever have thought that it would come from a Republican? In hindsight, it couldn't have happened any other way. The same could be said about Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union.

What has this to do with Hamas? Hamas has carried on guerilla operations against Israel for years, in Lebanon, and most recently, the intefada and suicide bombings. Its sworn position is the destruction of the Israeli state. As long as it was strictly a guerilla organization it did not participate in the political process. Hamas gained a great deal of popular support through social action. This January it paid off at the polls.

President Bush isn't the only one in a quandary. Hamas must now rule. The ball is in their court, and negotiations with Israel on the West Bank settlements now become theirs. Do they now break them off and declare war on their enemies? Impossible. Do they refuse to come to the table? Maybe, but th

is may become a provocation for reversal of Israel's policy. Worse, it could be used as a reason for military action. Arafat long argued that he couldn't be held responsible for the actions of extremists. Now the extremists are in power and can be held responsibility. Like the US in Iraq, Israeli extremists now have a solid target to shoot at.

The next few months will be crucial. Once Richard Nixon made a crack in the rhetorical wall separating the US and China, the barrier crumbled. If the Palestinians sincerely want a just peace with Israel, the right people are now in charge to carry it out.

Tell Your Friend