People's Democracy

PALESTINIAN RECONCILIATION

A Renewed Sense of Hope

Yohannan Chemerapally

THE news that the two main Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have decided to work together in the interests of Palestinian unity, has been welcomed in most capitals of the world. Among Palestinians there is now a renewed sense of hope. The two sides have been at loggerheads for the last four years, with Hamas running the Gaza Strip and the Fatah running the West Bank. The violent split between the two mainstream Palestinian groups had helped Israel to stall the peace process. It was the cumulative effect of the Arab upheaval and pressure from the younger generation of Palestinians that has led to the new show of unity. Both Fatah and Hamas have realised that two factions cannot separately rule Palestine. But nobody is taking the new found unity for granted. The Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, warned that Israel does not want to see Palestinian unity because it thrives on its divisions. “There are no guarantees about the success of the agreement, which has many enemies and there are attempts to undermine the agreement from many parties”, Abbas said shortly after the agreement was initialled.

The new Egyptian government, which played an important role in brokering the peace agreement, is not hostile to Hamas and wants to reposition Cairo as a key player in the region. Egypt has announced that it is opening the Rafah crossing on its border with Gaza so that the people there can return to some semblance of a normal life. Hamas officials have said that the agreement was possible because of the change in government in Egypt and the failure of the PA’s peace talks with Israel. Abbas has conceded that the “peoples revolutions” in the region had influenced the positive outcome. The exiled Hamas leadership in Damascus may have been rattled by the turmoil in Syria. The Muslim Brothers, who are leading the opposition in Syria, have close links with Hamas. In Egypt, the Muslim Brothers are expected to emerge as the single biggest party after elections are held later in the year. The Fatah leadership has been disenchanted with the Obama administration, especially after it exercised its veto in the UNSC on the resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion. The united front which the Palestinians have put up also comes at a time when the PA’s move to get international recognition for Palestinian statehood is gaining momentum. In September this year, the UN General Assembly is expected to formally recognise Palestine as an independent State, with or without a peace deal. Only Israel and the US are openly opposed to this move.

BROAD

SUPPORT

Hamas which till recently was against the plans for holding elections in the Palestinian territories has now agreed to participate in the Presidential and Parliamentary vote scheduled to be held after a year from now. Till the elections are held in May next year, Hamas and Fatah will retain their separate security apparatuses in Gaza and the West Bank, though the eventual goal is the integration of their military forces. Political detainees held by both sides are expected to be released soon. “Palestine is bigger than both Hamas and Fatah, it is bigger than all the factions. Hence efforts should be concentrated on building a broad national front towards the attainment of freedom from the hideous Israeli occupation”, said a statement from the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Similar statements of support were issued by other parties, including the Palestinian Peoples Party, the former Communist Party. “Genuine reconciliation and democratic elections are aimed at empowering the Palestinian people, which is precisely why Israel opposes the agreement”, said the prominent Palestinian activist and PLO executive member, Hannan Ashrawi. She said that previously the Israeli government was claiming that that it had no partner to negotiate with as the Palestinians were divided. “Now the same government is saying that President Abbas must choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas, but that he cannot have both. Hamas is part and parcel of the Palestinian political landscape”, said Hannawi. 

Representatives of the UN, the EU and the Arab League were present at the signing ceremony conducted at the headquarters of the Egyptian Intelligence Agency. The only loud protests have predictably come from Israel. Ever since the two major Palestinian factions started talking seriously of mending bridges in Cairo under the auspices of the post-Mubarak government in Egypt, the Israeli prime minister has been issuing threatening statements. He has been saying that the only “peace partner” available to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) is the Israeli government. He has warned the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that the Palestinians had to either choose “peace with Israel or peace with Hamas”.

ISRAELI

HOSTILITIES

As a signal of the Israeli government’s hostile intent, Netanyahu has withheld a planned $89 million transfer of funds meant for the PA. The money is part of the tax collected on Palestinian territory. Israel collects tax and customs fees on behalf of the PA, under the Paris Economic protocol signed in 1995. Israel has on several occasions in the past withheld the tax money to arm twist the PA. Two-thirds of the Palestinian budget is funded by the tax receipts. Palestinian officials have declared the latest Israeli move as “financial piracy”. Salim Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minster said that Israeli threats would not impede the reconciliation process. Hamas leaders have urged the PA to resist Israeli pressures. At the same time, the Hamas prime minster of Gaza, Ishmail Haniyeh also urged the PA to cut all security coordination with Israel. In the last couple of months as Palestinian unity talks began, Israel has resumed targeted killings in Gaza with a vengeance.

After the reconciliation agreement was signed on May 4 in Cairo by the leaders of all the Palestinian factions, the Israeli government is bringing its considerable influence in the US Congress into play to make the Obama administration cut off funding for the PA. Hamas has been on the US “terror list” for a long time. It was the American pressure on the Fatah dominated PA that led to the collapse of the “unity agreement” in 2006. The US and Israel never reconciled to the electoral victory of Hamas in elections held earlier that year.  Netanyahu and company are alleging that American money could now end up in the coffers of the Hamas run administration in Gaza. Netanyahu who is scheduled to visit the US soon will use the Palestinian “unity” agreement to further stall the negotiations process telling his sympathetic audience in the US that he will not negotiate with “terrorists” and those who do not recognise the State of Israel. President Abbas has said, with the concurrence of Hamas, that he would be in charge of negotiations on Palestinian statehood and foreign policy in general. The new caretaker government that is being formed will comprise mainly of technocrats. Politicians from the main factions will be excluded.

Though Hamas has not formally recognised Israel, its leaders have on several occasions said that they are ready to coexist with Israel, provided it withdraws from the occupied territories. This is the stand of all the Palestinian factions. “It is not required for Hamas to recognise Israel”, Abbas has emphasised. Addressing the complaints of the Israeli prime minister, Abbas said that everybody has the right “dislike, agree, disagree with Hamas, but they are our people”. The former American president, Jimmy Carter, has urged the international community to support the deal as it would enhance the chances for peace in the region. Many Palestinians in fact agree with the stance Hamas has taken on the issue of recognising the Jewish State. They have said the recognition should be reciprocal, pointing out that Israel has not yet recognised an independent State of Palestine. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognised Israel after the Oslo accords but Israel never bothered to reciprocate and instead set its mind to make the dream of Palestinian statehood unachievable. The Hamas, which is not part of the PLO, has said that it has no objections to the Fatah continuing with negotiation with Israel. “If Fatah wants to bear the responsibility on negotiating on nonsense, let it. If it manages to get a State, good for them”, a senior Hamas official told the media.

The Obama administration has been quick to endorse the Israeli position, reiterating that Hamas was a “terrorist” organisation and saying that the move will undermine the “peace process”. Because of Israeli settlement expansions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the peace process has been confined to limbo since September last year. However, the Palestinians have the backing of important regional players. The EU at this juncture seems inclined to back the Palestinians. The governments in Turkey and Iran have warmly welcomed the new developments. The Iranian foreign minister hailed the “auspicious agreement” which he said was one of the results of the Egyptian revolution. Israel has reasons to be upset at the turn of events. A resurgent Egypt has once again assumed its rightful place in the Arab word and is playing the key role in the region. As of now, Cairo has the backing of countries like Turkey, till recently a strategic partner of Israel and Iran, a major backer of Hamas.