July
06, 2007
Upheaval in Palestine: National
Objective in Ruins
The mid-June upheaval in Gaza
leading to the strip’s total takeover by the
militants of Hamas, the sacking of the democratically-elected,
Hamas-led, unity government for the entire semi-autonomous
territories under Palestinian Authority by President
Mahmoud Abbas, has almost ruined the national objective
of Palestinians to have a fully independent state
of their own side by side with Israel, as promised
by President Bush also five years back.
The Hamas military cadres of Gaza are reported to
have held “prayerful celebrations” on
their success in uprooting from the area their rival
faction – Al-Fatah founded years back by Yasser
Arafat. This was actually a cause celebre for Israel.
For, it marked the administrative and political
split of the Gaza strip from the West Bank. It has
certainly widened and deepened the fault line between
the two territories.
No wonder, Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert,
announced promptly the release of $562 million to
Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas,
that Israel had collected as taxes in Palestinian
territories since March last year when Hamas emerged
in elections as the majority party. But Israel was
unwilling to release the money to the Hamas-led
government, as Hamas did not accept Israel’s
right to exist, all previous Israel-Palestine agreements
and did not forswear violence.
Since the money will be at the disposal of President
Abbas, Gaza may be in for a grueling period of deprivation,
and squalor. The US might provide to it some humanitarian
aid, but the influx of large funds into West Bank
from Israel, US, European Union and the World Bank
would help propel the economy of that territory
opening up new avenues for employment. Gaza on the
other hand would continue to remain as an insignificant
mini-state in abject poverty and misery.
The fact of the matter is that Hamas emerged from
the misdeeds of Fatah. The latter formed by Yasser
Arafat embodied his own flamboyant, demagogic personality.
For instance, he refused to attend a UN Assembly
session if he was not allowed to take his side-gun
into the hall. He agreed eventually to replace the
gun with an almost identical toy.
All Arafat was interested in was to remain at the
helm of affairs in Palestine and in the eye of press
cameras. He accomplished both but in the process
he gave rise to corruption all around himself, he
also missed opportunities of promoting the interests
of his community. Hamas was actually a reaction
to the corrupt and hypocritical nature of Palestinian
Authority under Arafat.
Only 22% of the territory of 1948 Palestine was
with the Authority till the uprising in Gaza. Now
the earlier territory is accommodating Israel, West
Bank and Gaza. Separate governments have already
been set up for administering West Bank and Gaza,
undermining the Palestinian drive for statehood.
This reminds one of the convulsions leading to the
secession of East Pakistan and its emergence as
an independent Bangladesh. The mid-June events in
Gaza strike as a miniature version of the same episode.
Gaza has a population of 1.4 million only. And half
of it comprises refugees from other parts of Palestine
expelled from their hearth and home by the tide
of Israel.
The current euphoria in Gaza over expelling the
corrupt Fatah administrators and security forces
from the area might prove to be short-lived as it
can now be easily overwhelmed by its much bigger
neighbor. As it is, Gaza is now often referred to
as the biggest open-air prison of the world. The
ordinary citizen feels trapped in the small strip.
He cannot step out of the area. Nor, can he find
a worthwhile source of livelihood.
Israel has tightly closed all crossings from Gaza
into adjoining territories. It is argued that this
has been done to protect West Bank and other areas
from the contamination of Hamas influence. That
sounds more like an excuse. From its perspective,
the wider the cleavage, the better for Israel’s
long-term objectives.
Palestinians have been fed on fancies for so many
decades that they live in a world of make-belief.
Even forty years back in the six-day war of June,
1967, the combined Arab forces of Egypt, Jordan,
Syria and Iraq numbering over one million were defeated
by Israel’s 200,000. Israel had consequently
become the super power of the region. With the constant
help of the US and other Western countries it has
progressed since then by leaps and bounds. The citizens
of Israel and Jewish people at large are high-achievers.
The Arabs, on the other hand, are generally supine,
luxury loving and want to have some thing for nothing.
Their total GDP is almost equal to that of Spain
only. These may be inconvenient truths, but they
constitute the reality of the situation.
For decades past, the Arabs and the Palestinians
in particular under Arafat have been providing evidence
after evidence of their inability to come to terms
with their weaknesses and their needs. They have
been living on political myths like the boys of
the stones trying to smash a tank with their pebbles.
As for Israel, it was in the vanguard of the information
revolution in the mid-nineties and the most tech-dependent
economy in the world. It received a setback after
the dot-com bubble burst in 2,000. The 9/11 opened
new vistas for its companies that could spot terrorists
in crowd, seal borders from attacks and extract
confessions. It became a showroom of a fortressed
state surrounded by enemies. No wonder its export
business, particularly in the defense sector, expanded
from $270 million in 1999 to $1.2 billion now. Then,
as put by President Bush, “it enjoys a unique
relationship with the US”- the sole super
power.
Would it not be advisable for the Palestinians to
sincerely seek an accommodation with Israel instead
of dissipating resources on the pipe dream of settling
scores? Mahmoud Abbas, ostensibly a vacillating
leader, has taken the right path. He may be sarcastically
called the “chief collaborator” but,
being a rational rather than an emotional person,
he may be able to get a better place under the sun
for the long-suffering Palestinians.
arifhussaini@hotmail.com
