The Dangerous Challenges Ahead

by Ramzi E. Khoury

KUALA LUMPUR - It is clearly not enough that the Palestinians reached an agreement in Mecca to form a unity government. Whereas this may be a solution to the bloody confrontations between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza, unless the major players who have slammed a boycott on the government accept the agreement as a solution, the Palestinian people will continue to starve.

This is why President Mahmoud Abbas is flying from one country to another, now in the UAE after Egypt and Europe while Hamas's Politburo Chief Khaled Meshal is hopping in the other direction; currently in Russia, the only member of the Quartet willing to receive him.

Unless they are able to sell the Mecca agreement to the West, even the peace between the two parties is endangered as followers of Hamas and Fatah may plunge back into accusations over who is responsible for the starvation of the people and who is an obstacle to a final resolution.

So far, the results of the shuttle meetings in the West are not very encouraging. The West is repeating over and over again that they will wait to see if the unity government will meet the requirements of the Quartet (the U.S., EU, Russia and UN), and Hamas has no intention to meet any requirements that don't suit its alliances and fancies.

The Quartet demands that the unity government recognize Israel and all agreements signed during the peace process. What many in the Arab world do not realize is that this is not a ridiculous request. This is an integral part of the agreements signed, which allowed the Palestinian revolution to return to the West Bank and Gaza, create the Palestinian Authority and set-up a parliament and government under the leadership of the presidency.

There is a difference between demanding that Hamas as a political party recognize Israel and the Palestinian Authority government do it. No party expects Hamas to recognize Israel, especially when Fatah does not either.

Before the last elections, Hamas had boycotted all elections on the basis that it doesn't recognize Oslo and Madrid or any of the agreements signed as a result of the peace process.

By running in the legislative council elections a year ago, Hamas whether it acknowledges the fact or not, recognized the agreements signed, because they are the source of legislation behind the elections. Otherwise, Hamas would not be in recognition of the elections as a process nor the results that brought it to power!

It is a requirement that the Palestinian government, which doesn't enjoy the luxury to pick and choose from what has been agreed upon, deals with Israel to manage the affairs of the Palestinian people. And to do that it is a requirement to recognize Israel even if the members of that government belong to a party that doesn't.

This is why the Fatah government was led by Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei who, along with all his ministers, independent or from Fatah, recognized Israel and dealt with the occupier to ensure that the Palestinians got their daily food, medicine and other essential services they need and which are hostage in the hands of Israel.

But Hamas wants to recognize only what it likes in the agreements signed such as its ability to run in the elections and form governments. They want others to deal with Israel even though it is the job of the government, and they fancy playing leaders of the Palestinian people on the international arena, even though the leadership in Palestine is the elected presidency and international relations is the job of the president, not the government.

Nevertheless, and although it is nonsensical and illegal, President Abbas has chosen to accept that rather than plunge into a civil war promised by Hamas if he were to run early elections that Hamas knows it will lose after the Palestinians have tried it in power and tasted hunger for the first time in history. Meshal knows that a civil war will compromise a historic opportunity to liberate Palestine before U.S. President George Bush is out of power, and therefore is betting that all those who are striving to achieve a Palestinian state need to humour him or lose the opportunity.

Since Hamas is adamant about playing government (that may never govern as long as it doesn't deal with the occupation or the freedom of Palestine) and threatening bloodshed if it doesn't get what it wants, the bet is on the rest of the world to be as lenient as it can be under the circumstances.

If the Quartet doesn't buy the agreement and refuses to lift the economic siege placed on the Palestinian people, Abbas must secure the commitment of the Arab and Islamic world to break the economic siege and adopt the Palestinian people financially until further notice. The Arabs are supposedly ready.

But he must also be able to sell the Quartet, Israel and other powers the principle that even if they continue to boycott the government, final status negotiations with Israel must resume immediately before the opportunity is over.

Israel must also commit to allowing the presidency to take care of business in the service of the Palestinian people if the government is paralysed under the economic siege and political boycott.

These are huge challenges that require fast resolution because the clock is ticking and time is running out. This is why the Arab leaders are scrambling to ensure the success of the next Arab Summit and why the Islamic states are scrambling to put together initiatives that would help push the process out of deadlock.

But if it eventually boils down to a stalemate, the onus is on the Hamas leadership to start playing in the service of Palestine rather than its special interests. It is also time for Hamas to understand and accept that it can never again take the livelihood of the Palestinian people and the prospect of their freedom from occupation as hostages to secure power.

For as long as Hamas continues to make its unrealistic demands and threaten with "or else," the "or else" may become the only option before the Palestinian leadership. Just like Hamas would not win democratic elections if they are held now, Hamas would not win a civil war and the Palestinian people will never forgive it for the bloodshed or the damage it did.

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* Ramzi Khoury is a columnist, journalist and a strategic communications adviser (perception management). He writes a weekly column for the Saudi Gazette. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Arabisto, 27 February 2007, www.arabisto.com
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

date: 2007-03-01