In light of the president’s call [Archives:2009/1223/Opinion]
By: Yahya Ali Nuri
Faithful and honest efforts exerted by President Ali Abdullah Saleh concerning the Palestinian issue will continue to be one of the largest and most important sources of assistance that will put an end to such issues. These current disagreements sound the alarm on both the present and future of Palestine and its security. The president's efforts led to the 'Sana'a declaration' which outlined a strong plan to achieve Palestinian reconciliation and to prevent more internal conflicts which serve only the Israeli occupation.
The recent events in Palestine, particularly the Israeli criminal aggression against the Palestinians and their continuation of massacres, come during a difficult stage of the Palestinian struggle. This most recent stage is characterized by splits and fragmentation among the Palestinian active powers, particularly between Fatah and Hamas. The split created an atmosphere for Israel to continue Palestinian bloodshed out of its belief that the recent conditions represent a suitable opportunity to practice more aggressions to undermine the Palestinian people.
In addition, the enemy views the Palestinian disagreements as a golden opportunity to achieve further fragmentation in the various stances of the Arab nations toward the Palestinian issue. Arabs look at the recent developments from different perspectives based on their interests and attitudes toward the different ideologies related to the Palestinian issue.
These visions and discrepancies made Arab policies confused in determining the right political path guaranteeing advocacy for the Palestinian people. Many examples reflect this confusion, particularly the manifestation of protests against the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in Gaza as well as the inconsistent opinions that assess the performance of Fatah and Hamas. There is both sympathy and blame for both groups depending where you are in the Arab world, which indicates the fragile stands toward the Palestinian issue.
Additionally, regional Middle East powers utilized the Palestinian issue as a means of pressure to achieve their political interests both internally as well as internationally. These relations, in turn, created requirements on the level of the international community's efforts to combat terror. It also furthered confusion between the concepts of terrorism and legitimate resistance of people who groan under occupation.
As a result of this confusion, we find that successful tactics that will recover the spirit of the Palestinian must include unified leadership. This call for unified leadership represents the first and final demand today. As such, Ali Abdullah Saleh's call to hold an emergency Arab Summit to discuss the dimensions of the Palestinian scene is a welcome and needed proposal. In holding such a summit, the president doesn't aim to absorb the rage of the Arab peoples; rather, he aims to put an end to the inconsistencies among Palestinians. That is why the president called for all Palestinian factions to actively participate in the summit.
This vision indicates the credibility of his readings of the Palestinian situation, as not only does he look at the situation from the angle of the Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians but also from the international angle as well. The president's vision stresses that the right way to come out of this critical juncture is to produce a plan that recovers the unity of Palestine and unifies their various stances that serve the Palestinian interest overall.
Therefore, the Arab Summit, if held, should achieve a political goal that includes more than the recitation of mere mottoes and national political terms, which people are tired of hearing. It should make the Palestinian issue the real initiative toward the future and create a positive Arab drive to support the Palestinians without any bias toward or against any Palestinian faction. In such a case, we can guarantee that all Palestinians will put the supreme interest of the country as the main goal of every activity. Such unification will also put an end to Israeli aggressions against Palestine, whether the agreed upon choice made by Palestinians will be armed struggle or diplomatic channels.
As long as Palestinian and Arab factions are scattered and disjointed, what happened in Gaza can happen again. If unity is achieved, the world will deal with the Palestinian issue from the perspective that its factions decide and agree on. This reconciliation obliges the international community, particularly Arabs who failed to put an end to the Palestinian disagreements, to consider the demands of the Palestinian people. Israel benefited from this split in the Palestinian and Arab stances to commit massacres, particularly the massacres in Gaza. Such massacres aroused rage not only on Israel but also on the Palestinian bodies that contributed to more political and national congestion inside occupied lands.
A realignment of Palestinian leadership should be achieved as the first and main goal in order to rid the siege imposed on the people in Gaza. Unity of leadership will also put an end to Israeli arrogance and the inattention of the colonization powers, particularly the United States of America.
Source: Al-Thawra state run daily.
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