| Ander Nieuws week 26 / nieuwe oorlog 2007 |
Daily Star
June 20, 2007
By Rami G. Khouri
The separation of the West Bank and Gaza into separate political entities run respectively by Fatah and Hamas is a calamity. The rush by the United States, Israel and Europe to resume aid to the emergency government in the West Bank set up earlier this week by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will turn the calamity into a full-blown catastrophe.
The Palestinian people are now divided into six distinct communities, located in Gaza, the West Bank, Arab East Jerusalem (under varying degrees of Israeli occupation and control), refugee camps throughout the Arab world, in Palestinian communities in the Middle East outside the camps, and in the global diaspora. This worsening fragmentation of the Palestinians is certain to lead to greater radicalization and more proficient resistance, which will spill over into other societies in the region, and perhaps globally. This trend has been consistent since 1948.
On its northern and southern Arab borders Israel today is flanked by two militant Arab movements - Hizbullah and Hamas - that combine powerful ideologies of religion, nationalism, resistance and self-assertion. Neither existed 25 years ago, but both have achieved power and prominence today. They are the natural consequences of Israel's perpetuating decades of attacks, dehumanizing occupations and brutal colonization against Palestinians, while the US and Europe fiddled and the Arabs napped.
Hamas and Hizbullah are among the most effective and legitimate political movements in the Arab world: They have forced unilateral Israeli retreats that no Arab army could induce; won elections democratically without resorting to the gerrymandering or ballot box stuffing that most American-supported Arab regimes live by; provided efficient service delivery and local governance to their constituents; and sustained resistance to Israeli occupation that appeals to the desire of ordinary Arabs to restore dignity to their battered lives and to their shattered, hollow political systems.
We should criticize such Islamists for some of their policies and ambiguities. But it is a big mistake to confront and fight them mainly because they challenge Israel, are friendly to Iran and Syria, and represent vanguards of regional Islamism; for these three attributes precisely define much of their indigenous efficacy and legitimacy. Those who wish to fight Hamas and Hizbullah would do better to help address the indigenous grievances in Lebanon and Palestine that gave birth to these groups and continue to underpin their popularity.
Such movements are strong also due to a third trend that we witnessed this week: The continued insistence by Israel, the US and Europe - now an explicit team - to intervene in domestic Palestinian and Arab politics in favor of one side in the ideological struggle defining the Middle East. Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamists generally represent at one level a reaction to foreign interference, a desire by ordinary Arabs to exercise true sovereignty, and to avoid becoming puppets of the US, surrogates of Israel, or social welfare wards of Europe.
The US, Israel and Europe repeat two enormous mistakes when they blatantly side with Fatah and Abbas, seek to destroy Hamas, and crudely bribe the Palestinians with cash. Such approaches will only hasten the long-term erosion of Abbas and Fatah's already thin credibility and legitimacy. As in Northern Ireland, with its shared Protestant-Catholic government, a Fatah-Hamas government is the most realistic way to move toward stable, recognized and secure statehood for Palestinians and Israelis.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday sounded even more incoherent and incredible than usual, as she heaped abuse on Hamas and praise on Abbas and his emergency government, and repeated the now-impish American commitment to moving toward a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. One must be a simpleton or sinister to foster domestic strife between Palestinians, ignore the most powerful, democratically elected mass movement in Palestine, and also speak of promoting a negotiated peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Rice and the US are neither simpletons nor sinister, so why do they behave as if they are?
Three missing ingredients for Israeli-Palestinian peace remain on display today: The absence of a single, legitimate Palestinian government with a clear policy on making peace or war with Israel; the absence of an Israeli government prepared to negotiate a fair peace that responds to both Israeli and Arab legitimate rights; and, the absence of an impartial mediator who can prod both sides toward a fair, negotiated accord anchored in UN resolutions.
All three of these negatives will be exacerbated by the Fatah-Hamas confrontation and by the American, Israeli and European response to events in Palestine. The world erred when it refused to engage Hamas after its election victory last year, and again after the Hamas-Fatah unity government was formed earlier this year. One must be truly stupid, or brutally malicious, to repeat the same mistake a third time.
Rami G. Khouri is published twice-weekly by The Daily Star.
Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star
Original link
| Ander Nieuws week 26 / nieuwe oorlog 2007 |