Palestinians: From calamity to tragedy [Archives:2007/1084/Opinion]
By: Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Tarb
Whenever the Arab nations go through hard circumstances and tough challenges, we get shocked at the situation, as such circumstances and challenges are not the worst in the history of Arab states. This means the Arab states are bound to experience worse conditions than those.
In 1948, the Hebrew State emerged under the guise of independence while the Palestinians and Arabs remained lamenting the catastrophe's consequences until 1967 when they suffered an unprecedented military defeat in the history of Arab-Israeli conflict. But, the permanent betting has been manifested in the Palestinian national unity and its rigid.
In June 2007, a setback occurred. Remarkably, the calamity and the setback are symptomatic of external events and foreign interventions. But now, it is time for us to take a useful lesson from what happened in the past. The Palestinian brothers, particularly those supporting Hammas, had organized a coupe against the regime amid inflammatory regional circumstances and difficult international situations. This raises before us numerous remarks.
The separation between Gazza Strip and the West Bank is a historic dream, which Israel has been seeking to achieve. For the sake of reaching this dream, Israel exercised tricky means and policies during the time period that followed 1967. The Zionist state was always of the hope to see Gazza Strip under the Egyptian administration once again. It also wanted the West Bank to be under the Jordanian administration as it prefers having borders with Egypt and Jordan to dealing the Palestinian Authority. Israel is the only winner in the most recent tragic developments in the region.
What happened in June 14, 2007 is a geographic division of the Palestinian Cause and this follows the political fragmentation, which the Arab state suffered over the past few years. We have been proud of the Palestinian national unity and considered it a rock that destroyed all the Israeli conspiracies on various occasions. At this point, I have to admit that the Palestinian national unity has passed very difficult tests and complicated situations, and furthermore has resisted very sensitive conditions until its sudden collapse in the past few months. This collapse was caused by a state of gradual deterioration since the announcement of the Palestinian Legislative Elections' results.
The violence that took place in Gazza reflects a severe congestion, the crisis of lost confidence and the instigation of conflicts between Hamas and Fatah. It makes those interested in the issue raise questions about the actual reasons behind what has happened. The coupe, organized by Hamas against the Palestinian Legitimate Authority, is merely a reflection of risky developments that are impossible to be interpreted without a relation with what happens in the region. And, this doesn't mean that we underestimate Hamas's legitimacy and capacity to rule the country, specifically as it scored a landslide victory in the most recent legislative elections.
The United States, Israel, Iran, and all the Arabs are key players in the Palestinian field directly or indirectly, but the climatic point of the tragedy is manifested by the fierce practices, which Hamas pursued when its leaders talked about liberation. Some of Hamas supporters raised their movement's flag in Gazza in lieu of the Palestinian flag and threw some of Fatah elements from the upper floors of the buildings, thereby becoming victims at the hands of their brothers and not the Israelis. What about the commitment Hamas leaders made before the Holy Mosque to respect the Makka Agreement. They didn't remain committed to abide by the agreement. This is an approach and a justification for Israel to say to the world that the Arabs don't respect any commitments they make or agreements they sign with their brothers. The Zionist state may wonder how it is possible to live in peace with Hamas.
The Palestinian Cause is a national issue before being a religious one, while the other experiences and practices, which have associated between the religion and politics, appeared to be at expense of the religion, which depends on absolute matters. Politics, on the other hand, doesn't seem to deal with anything of relative authenticity.
As Muslims, Christians and Jews participated in the Palestinian national movement, any condemnation or denouncement of conflicts is a huge mistake. When we talk about the Eastern Quds, for instance, this means we are talking about a Palestinian territory, which has been occupied since June 1967. The Resolutions No. 242 and 238, released by the UN Security Council regarding conflict in the Middle East, may apply in this case.
I objectively believe that Hamas Movement has taken control-colored stances, as it rejected Oslo Agreement and then participated in the legislative elections, which are an Oslo Agreement's outcome, as well as an important mechanism of the national authority. This control-colored choice of stances makes us anxious about the current developments since democracy is a completed bargain and we are not authorized to take any part of this bargain and reject the other parts. I think that this point is a joint factor that combines Hamas Movement with the other Muslim Brothers' factions in the Arab region.
We don't deny Hamas's struggle and sacrifices of its supporters in the first and second Intefadas (uprisings). Additionally, we don't neglect another confirmed fact that Fatah is a movement of struggle, which began its activities in January 1945. It sacrificed famous and great martyrs for the sake of homeland such as Abu Ammar, Abu Ayyad, Abu Jihad, Abu Al-Houl, Abu Al-Letf, Abu Mazen, Kamal Nasser, Mohammed Udwan and other historic leaders. Attributing bad events to Fatah policies and accusing its leaders of corruption is a denial of the fact and an unfair verdict against history. We admit that the serious mistakes, committed by Fatah, helped Hamas to score a landslide victory in the most recent legislative elections. Hamas won the majority of Legislative Council seats, thanks to Fatah mistakes and deviations of Fatah leaders, and this victory has nothing to do with Hamas's platform. Similar cases of this kind took place in different Arab countries such as Yemen and Egypt.
The establishment of Hamas Movement in the 80s of the last century, amid circumstances known to everyone, should be linked with the future of its relations with the Hebrew State and the international community as a whole. On the contrary, Fatah Movement played the role of a cover for some Hamas leaders during their dealings and contacts with Israeli officials under the shadow of Hamas philosophy strongly rejecting any contact with the Zionists. This is why unconfirmed tales about Hamas contacts with Israeli officials via its prisoners in the Israeli jails began to circulate throughout the region. I personally cast doubt on the authenticity of these tales that raise numerous questions. I have been expecting a fragmentation to take place at the expense of the Palestinian independence, restoration of the occupied lands and insult of the Holy City, in a way similar to what happened to various national liberation movements. In South Yemen, for instance, there had been two liberations of struggle against the British Occupation. Namely, they are the National Front, led by Qahtan Al-Sha'ebi and the Liberation Front under the leader Abdulqawi Makkawi. In addition, Zimbabwe had in the past two leaders for national liberation, the first of whom is Gushu Nuckomu and the second is Robert Mughabi, who has become the President of the Republic since the independence until now.
At this point, we want to say that the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, which has ever paid the most expensive price in the contemporary history, should remain unified on the face of the occupation. When the latter is forced from the Arab land, it will be the most important subject to be discussed worldwide.
The fragmentation and factional conflicts between Hamas and Fatah, which Palestine has suffered, led to a wider division in the Arab region between Hamas and Fatah supporters. This never serves the Palestinian issue, as it left behind a huge gap between the Palestinian people and their Arab brothers. We feel anxious about what is happening in this changeable world. We are unhappy about the Middle East's future. We want these remarks to highlight the size and scope of the bloody tragedy, which is related with what took place in Gazza in 2007. Such a tragedy mostly and repeatedly occurs in the month of June, which is, in my opinion, the month of tragedies and sadness.
Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Tarb is an economist and a professor in Political Science. He is the head of the Arab Group for Investment and Development
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