The international community is moving quickly to legitimate Hamas in order to avoid compromising the international "peacemaking" industry. Here's the EU's list of conditions for the new, Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority to continue receiving EU funds: Hamas "must be commited to non-violence, recognize Israel, and accept previous understandings and agreements, including the road map."
Notice that all these conditions can be met merely by having Hamas articulate the appropriate platitudes. The EU is not actually requiring any action from Hamas, just a few statements. There are no demands to abandon the tactic of suicide bombing, dismantle the party's private terrorist army, cease anti-Semitic incitement in Hamas-run mosques and schools, or even to revoke the Hamas charter that calls for Israels's destruction. So long as Hamas makes some vague commitment to "peace," the EU will be able to justify its funding of one of the world's premier terror organizations, to the tunes of hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Why is EU setting the bar so low? Because as the Palestinian Authority's largest donor, it has invested literally billions of dollars in a policy predicated on a lie - that is, that the Palestinians desire a peaceful settlement with Israel leading to a two-state solution. For the EU, there doesn't seem to be any dissonance between that premise and the reality that the Palestinians have just elected a genocidal terror group dedicated to Israel's total destruction.
The EU's Mideast policy is no longer primarily geared toward bringing about peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Instead, the policy is aimed simply at justifying itself and preventing embarrassment to the EU diplomatic corps, which seeks to prove in the MidEast that its soft and "even-handed" approach is more effective than the U.S.'s alleged bullying along with its "biased" support for Israel.
