Friends of Hamas

The government of Hugo Chavez will receive representatives of Hamas "with pleasure" should they visit Venezuela on a forthcoming tour of South America. Vladimir Putin has announced he will host a meeting with the Palestinian terrorist group/political party next month in Moscow. "We have never considered Hamas a terrorist organization," says the Russian president.

Already, Spain and France have endorsed Putin's invitation to Hamas, and both governments are reported to be working to have Hamas removed from the European list of terrorist organizations.

Which brings us to yesterday's reports that the U.S. and Israel are trying to "destabilize" Hamas by squeezing the Palestinian Authority for funds - which was played as front-page news. Neither President Bush nor acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made any secret of their intention to isolate Hamas and deprive the Palestinian Authority of funds once Hamas assumes the reins of government.

Nor is there any shame in doing so: Donors have the right to impose conditions on their beneficiaries, and so far Hamas has rejected international calls that it disarm, forswear terrorism, and accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state.

Palestinians need to understand that the exercise of self-government carries consequences. For too long, the international community has failed to extract a price for the Palestinian recourse to terror. That failure has not brought peace, but far worse it has produced the "Palestine" we have now: destitute and savage against both Israelis and moderate Arabs.