by Mike Gibbs
Last week, a historic meeting was arranged between the Islamic Hamas and the secular Fatah in Cairo. Fatah and Hamas are the two predominant political parties of Palestine. The Egyptian government brought together party leaders from both sides for an end to the three-year divide between the two factions. For Palestinians, before statehood can be acquired, the Gaza-controlled Hamas and the West bank-controlled Fatah must unite.
Starting in 2005, after the death of Yasser Arafat, Fatah was viewed as an increasingly corrupt organization, willing to bargain away Palestinian rights for personal gain. At the same time, however, Fatah had control of the Palestinian Authority and was the only party Israel was willing to negotiate with. During 2006, the United States and Israel put increasing pressure on the Palestinians to hold democratic elections. The results placed one of the senior advisors in Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in the office of Prime Minister.
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, dismissed Ismail Haniyeh from office during the peak of the Fatah-Hamas tension. Abbas appointed Salam Fayyad to replace Haniyeh. Many argued whether the president held the power to appoint a new prime minister. This event led to the separation of the West Bank and Gaza.
After the election, Israel withheld the tax revenue meant to support the Palestinian Authority. In response, the U.S. demanded the $50 million to support infrastructure be returned. The U.S. felt the need to intervene because it was dismayed by the results of the popular election and would not respect the will of the average Palestinian. Because of this, many Palestinian residents feel the U.S. only supports parties that are willing to cater to U.S. interests in the region.
Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that tax revenues will again be withheld following the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. While Israel believes they are stopping this money from reaching a terrorist organization, in reality they are forcing a salary cut on many poverty-level public employees. Netanyahu has also claimed Israel now has no partner for peace. Israel has refused to negotiate with any Palestinian government of which Hamas is a part. One of the preconditions for negotiation requires that Hamas immediately disarm its military wing, which it refuses to do. With Israel continuing to take Palestinian land does the reluctance of Hamas to submit to disarmament come as a surprise? With or without the involvement of Netanyahu, Palestine is now closer to achieving statehood and a permanent seat in the United Nations.
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17. June 2012 at 12:25 pm
.Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday psiraed the reconciliation agreement between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, a deal that Obama called an enormous obstacle to peace in the Middle East.A Hamas official said Lavrov, who hosted rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas in Moscow yesterday, repeated Moscow’s support for a Palestinian declaration of statehood in the United Nations in September.The Palestinian leaders arrived in Moscow a few days ago to continue their talks to reach a reconciliation deal and sort out the elections for Palestinian president and legislative council.Palestinian officials told Haaretz the meeting in Moscow under President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s auspices was extremely important. The Russian support for the reconciliation agreement is very important to the Palestinians due to Russia’s international status and its membership in the Middle East quartet, a Palestinian official said.Obama’s speech about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not mentioned directly at the meeting but Palestinian officials said they hoped Russia would support the agreement as well as act for the Palestinians in the international arena. We very much value your agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told members of Fatah, Hamas and other parties to the deal signed early this month in Cairo. All peoples need unity, not least the Palestinian people, who are justly seeking a solution to their task of creating a state, Lavrov said.Obama said on Sunday the agreement poses an enormous obstacle to peace. No country can be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its destruction. Moscow has made a point of calling for the inclusion of Hamas in diplomacy, hosting its leaders and saying that isolating it is counterproductive.Lavrov also welcomed the Palestinian plans for elections in October. The PA recently postponed the local balloting, which had been scheduled for July, gaining more time to organize voting in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.Senior Palestinian officials are continuing their consultations with Arab officials following Obama’s speech to AIPAC. However Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is visiting Amman, did not issue an official statement about it.A senior Palestinian official said Abbas chose not to confront Obama in public, despite his dissatisfaction with the president’s speech.The Palestine news agency Wafa stressed parts of Obama’s speech supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders.PA leaders Saeb Erekat and Nabil Shaath were conducting intensive talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa ahead of the Arab Initiative Committee, which is scheduled to meet in Qatar on May 28, Palestinian sources said.Moussa yesterday promised Shaath to take a firm stand against Netanyahu and what he called the groveling American stance vis-a-vis Israel.
19. June 2012 at 12:51 am
that Obama’s speech is not agisant Israel and is not bad for Israel and that it includes many things that are good for Israel, but that doesn’t make any impression on Bibi Netanyahu and his friends.But it’s not only you, Mr. President. Nine years ago, the 22 Arab League countries submitted a proposal for ending the conflict with the Palestinians and for full normalization with them. The leaders of the people that insist on being persecuted chose not to confuse themselves with the fact that 22 Arab countries were recognizing Israel and accepting its right to exist in peace alongside them. That is why our leaders simply ignored it. To the point where barely 15 percent of the Israeli public is even aware of the existence of the Arab initiative. That is why on Thursday, when we, members of the Israeli peace initiative delegation, presented the Egyptian foreign minister with the initiative that for the first time responds to the Arab peace initiative, he rightly said: For nine years the initiative has been on the table. Now you remembered?The reality, Mr. President, is that change thanks to which you were elected, and in which you believe is the thing that Israel in general and Netanyahu in particular fear most. The reality is that the State of Israel has become accustomed to the present situation and does not recognize itself without it. Israel has existed longer with the occupation than without it; it has existed for most of its years with no border and is deathly afraid of change.The reality is that Netanyahu never wanted or thought to initiate change. When he was elected two years ago, he understood that in order not to initiate change, he would have to play at negotiations that lead nowhere. But alas, there was nobody in the White House who would play this nice little game with him, and his true colors were exposed: He wants settlements, he wants occupation, he wants the situation as it is and sees no problem with it. And now, Netanyahu prefers confrontation. Confrontation with you, confrontation with the Palestinians, confrontation with anyone he sees as coming out agisant the persecuted people. The reality is simply that confrontation we already know, Mr. President, but peace we do not know at all.