BEIRUT — The separation of the West Bank and Gaza into separate political entities run respectively by Fateh 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 an even greater catastrophe.
The Palestinian people are now divided into six distinct communities: Gaza; the West Bank, and Arab East Jerusalem (under varying degrees of Israeli occupation and control); the refugee camp residents throughout the Arab world; other Palestinians in the Middle East not living in camps; and the global Palestinian Diaspora. This worsening fragmentation of the Palestinians is certain to lead to grater 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.
Consequently, 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 of these movements existed 25 years ago, but both have achieved power and prominence today. They are the natural consequence of allowing Israel to perpetuate for decades its repeated attacks, dehumanizing occupations and brutal colonization, while the United States and Europe fiddle and the Arabs nap.
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, demonstrated a spirit of sustained resistance to Israeli occupation that appeals to the desire of ordinary Arabs to restore some 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 them and continue to underpin their popularity.
Such movements are strong also due to the third trend we witness this week: The continued insistence by Israel, the United States and Europe — now an explicit team — to intervene in domestic Palestinian and Arab politics in favor of one side in the regional ideological struggle that defines 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 US puppets, surrogates of Israel, or social welfare wards of Europe.
US-Israel-Europe repeat two enormous mistakes when they side blatantly with Fateh and President Abbas, try to destroy Hamas, and crudely bribe the Palestinians with cash. Such approaches will only hasten the long-term erosion of Abbas and Fateh’s already thin credibility and legitimacy. As in Northern Ireland with its shared Protestant-Catholic government, a combined Fateh-Hamas government is the most realistic way to move towards stable, recognized and secure statehood for both 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 towards a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Only simpletons or sinister people can 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 United States are neither simpletons nor sinister, so why do they behave as if they were?
Three missing ingredients for Israeli-Palestinian peace remain on display this week: The lack of a single, legitimate Palestinian government with a clear policy on making peace or war with Israel; the lack of an Israeli government that is prepared to negotiate a fair peace that responds to both Israeli and Arab legitimate rights, rather than demanding unilateral Palestinian and Arab submission; and, the lack of an impartial external mediator who can prod both sides towards a fair, negotiated accord anchored in UN resolutions.
All three of these negatives will be exacerbated by the Fateh-Hamas confrontation and by the American-Israeli-European response to events in Palestine. The world miscued when it refused to engage Hamas after its election victory last year, and again after the Hamas-Fateh unity government earlier this year. One must be truly stupid, or brutally malicious, to repeat the same mistake a third time.
Rami G. Khouri is an internationally syndicated columnist, the director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star, and co-laureate of the 2006 Pax Christi International Peace Award.
Copyright ©2007 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global
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Released: 20 June 2007
Word Count: 804
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