Whither Palestinians?
February
09, 2007
The Palestinian people find themselves
at quite a crossroad in their national history.
Rather than fighting Israel’s occupation
of their land, they face the possibility of a
civil war. Meanwhile, major existential questions
about their future remain unresolved. In the next
12 months, the Palestinians need to get their
own house in order so that they can return to
focusing on the main goal, establishing an independent
Palestine.
The root of the problem is Israel’s refusal
for the last six years to negotiate with the Palestinian
Authority. This lack of progress removed the main
stumbling block for Hamas, the Islamist movement
in Palestine, from winning an election. As Hamas
refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the previous
Israeli-Palestinian agreements, including the
basic Oslo framework in which the Palestinian
Authority recognized Israel and accepted the 1967
borders, it clearly stood for confrontation with
Israel rather than negotiation. Hamas is all about
violent resistance (most Palestinian suicide bombers
were sent by Hamas for example), and regards all
of Palestine to belong to the Palestinians, including
the land that is now Israel. Therefore, if the
Palestinian people wanted to end the occupation
and achieve a peace deal with the Israelis, they
clearly could not do so with Hamas in charge.
So then why did Hamas win the elections for the
Palestinian Parliament a year ago? Because Israel’s
refusal to negotiate took away the main argument
against Hamas. If Israel was not going to talk
to Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority
under Fatah control, then there is no loss to
the Palestinians if Hamas is in charge instead.
And given the widespread disgust among Palestinians
over the corruption and mismanagement of government
services under Fatah, Hamas could present itself
as the party of reform and effective clean governance.
This in fact worked, and Hamas won power.
But Hamas could not provide good governance and
improve the lives of the Palestinians while at
the same time engaging in violent resistance against
Israel. The capturing of an Israeli soldier near
Gaza last summer unleashed a massive Israeli attack
on Gaza, which included blowing up of its main
source of electricity. Despite that, Israel still
hasn’t gotten its soldier back, and negotiations
drag on. Hamas’s refusal to recognize Israel
and abandon violence has also led to the US and
EU cutting off the funds that pay most Palestinian
salaries, while Israel stopped transferring hundreds
of millions of dollars in taxes collected from
Palestinians. This cash crisis has led to the
near collapse of government services and a massive
increase in poverty.
As a result, Hamas has seen its support erode.
The latest polls show Fatah now having twice the
support of Hamas. Palestinian President Abbas
has threatened to call new elections, which he
thinks would result in Hamas losing, unless Hamas
changes its positions on these key issues. While
some in the Hamas leadership, especially those
living in Gaza, are willing to consider this,
the head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, who is based
in Damascus, has so far ruled out any softening
of the Hamas position. Abbas has even visited
him in Damascus to try to resolve the crisis.
Hamas leaders state that Abbas has no right to
dissolve the legislature and call elections, and
that for him to do so would be a “coup”
against the legitimate government. Tensions between
Fatah and Hamas have spilled into the streets,
and leaders on both sides have been shot at while
street battles that portend a full civil war have
taken place.
The other way out is to form a new government
of national unity that would hand over power to
technocrats acceptable to both Hamas and Fatah.
The aim would be to get the EU and US to resume
aid flows, and to get Israel to return finally
to the negotiating table. Attempts at creating
a national unity government have foundered though
mainly on Hamas’ refusal to endorse a pragmatic
political program of the unity government, namely
acceptance of previous peace deals and a stated
goal of creating Palestine only in the West Bank
and Gaza, while accepting Israel within the 1967
borders.
This is finally the real question facing the Palestinian
people. Is it time for Hamas to also join the
camp of those who accept a two-state solution
to the conflict? And if this were to happen can
the Israelis and the US be trusted to negotiate
in good faith and offer a real viable state and
a full withdrawal to the 1967 borders? The Palestinians
need to resolve these issues and develop an effective
political strategy to achieve their goals. Otherwise,
they are facing another generation in refugee
camps and under Israeli subjugation. Comments
can reach me at Nali@socal.rr.com.
