The Palestinian Imbroglio: Peace on the Anvil?
- From: shilpa deep <silpadeep@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2007 13:02:13 -0000
A clear agenda needs to be worked out if peace is to be brought to the
Middle East. With Hamas and Fatah unwilling to yield an inch, peace
and the ordinary Palestinians seem to be the unfortunate victims.
THERE ARE indications that the mid-east is trying to shun the usual
policy of confrontation in favour of reconciliation. The Arab
countries and Israel are yearning for peace and the US is playing the
role of facilitator. The picture that is emerging is that of a popular
and strong Fatah's Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a
weak Hamas. Both these groups have virtually divided the Palestinian
geography between them with Fatah controlling West Bank and Hamas
controlling Gaza strip. What is significant is that all the active
players in the mid-east peace process are playing the game of divide
and rule. The Israeli and US' support for Mahmoud Abbas is clearly
evident from the recent gestures by Israel where they have released
the frozen tax incomes and have agreed to free some Palestinian
prisoners. The US has been equally magnanimous by presenting an $80
million deal to strengthen the hands of Mahmoud Abbas. But there is an
important caveat- you are playing with fire and could burn your hands.
The Hamas which controls the Gaza strip and have vowed to obliterate
Israelis are increasingly sidelined by everybody and any agreement
regarding the state of Palestine cannot reach its logical end if Hamas
is neglected. Their control on the Gaza strip is absolute and owing to
the present conditions they have enough support to ensure that they
can stifle any effort to create the state of Palestine. The reason
lies not in their being not interested in any such State, but in the
fact that a newly created State will undermine their authority and
could subjugate them to their rival Fatah. A neglected Hamas may join
hands with organizations like Al-Qaida and Hezbollah making the region
similar to present day Iraq where scores of people die everyday. Every
step needs serious contemplation before its implementation on the
ground.
During his trip to Russia Mahmoud Abbas pleaded Russia's commitment to
the cause and sought its help in bringing the Hamas to the negotiating
table. The Russians have good relations with Hamas. But whether the
Russians can succeed in bring them in line with the rest of the
concerned parties or not is difficult to say. The US is also planning
to stage a summit to help Israel and Palestine reach a feasible
solution on the state of Palestine. But before that they need to
ensure that Mahmoud Abbas becomes the true representative of the
Palestinians and this includes even those who are the supporters of
Hamas. To meet this requirement they will have explore all the
options.
The living conditions in Fatah controlled-West Bank is better than the
Hamas-controlled Gaza strip. The respective unemployment rates in West
Bank and Gaza are 24% and 35%. Similarly respectively one third and
two thirds of the households in West Bank and Gaza are below poverty
line. Here lies the weakness of Hamas administered areas. There are
simply not enough amenities and opportunities in Gaza and hence people
living there could be lured to support Mahmoud Abbas by providing them
the opportunity to earn within Israel and the West Bank. Economic
development of the West Bank also holds the key to an all round
support for the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. A UN
monitored development program both in Israel and West Bank is needed
to win the allegiance of Hamas supporters before reaching any
agreement. Development must start without waiting for the conditions
to become conducive which is not at all possible given the number of
terrorist organizations operating across the world. A largesse to the
Palestinians can only ensure that they come to the negotiating table
with a positive frame of mind by shunning the violence and Hamas and
trusting the US and Israel.
There many issues both sides want to discuss, but there is no
consensus about the issues to be discussed first at the summit
scheduled sometimes later this year. What the Israelis want to discuss
later the Palestinians want to discuss first. This shows that there is
still mistrust in the air despite the gestures by Israel and the US.
Time is running out to sort out this problem as they are very near to
the scheduled summit, which may end without any significant step
forward for want of a clear agenda. A failed summit or a summit
without any concrete step forward would mean decreasing support for
Mahmoud Abbas and one should not be surprised if Fatah's loss is
Hamas' gain, for what is of utmost importance to the Palestinians is a
state of Palestine, not Fatah or Hamas.
Source: http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=125896
[merinews is a citizen journalism news portal where people can discuss
issue from diverse categories]
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