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Palestine: Not civil war
While the situation in Gaza has not yet pitched brother against brother, the increase in violence between Hamas and Fatah is alarming, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank
Fresh violent clashes between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip relegated the financial crisis crippling the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its Hamas-led government to a position of secondary importance, at least for a brief period. The clashes, which caused the death of a Jordanian Embassy employee on Monday, were isolated and localised, but they evoked latent fears that an all- out showdown between the two rival political camps in the occupied Palestinian territories might be inevitable, or at least more conceivable than previously thought.
Earlier this week, General Tareq Abu Rajab, chief of Palestinian Intelligence, was the target of a botched assassination attempt in downtown Gaza in which he was seriously injured, a number of his aides moderately hurt, and one bodyguard killed. Another assassination attempt, this time against Rashid Abu Shabak, head of the PA Preventive Security Services, was foiled Sunday. Until now it is unclear who was behind the two assassination attempts. The government condemned the "criminal acts" and initiated investigations. Fatah wasted no time in alluding to Hamas as the responsible party.
Until recently, Palestinians of all persuasions agreed that "Palestinian civil war" was the ultimate red line that no one would be allowed to cross, regardless of circumstances. This widespread understanding more or less remains intact despite -- or even as a result of -- the latest clashes and bloodshed.
It is difficult to pinpoint one objective reason for the recurrent altercations, other than the tribal-like rivalry between the two groups. Hamas complains bitterly that Fatah, possibly encouraged by Israel and the US, is refusing to come to terms of Hamas's electoral victory and is trying to rob the Hamas government of its basic powers and authorities, such as controlling police and security forces.
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http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/re3.htm
Earlier this week, General Tareq Abu Rajab, chief of Palestinian Intelligence, was the target of a botched assassination attempt in downtown Gaza in which he was seriously injured, a number of his aides moderately hurt, and one bodyguard killed. Another assassination attempt, this time against Rashid Abu Shabak, head of the PA Preventive Security Services, was foiled Sunday. Until now it is unclear who was behind the two assassination attempts. The government condemned the "criminal acts" and initiated investigations. Fatah wasted no time in alluding to Hamas as the responsible party.
Until recently, Palestinians of all persuasions agreed that "Palestinian civil war" was the ultimate red line that no one would be allowed to cross, regardless of circumstances. This widespread understanding more or less remains intact despite -- or even as a result of -- the latest clashes and bloodshed.
It is difficult to pinpoint one objective reason for the recurrent altercations, other than the tribal-like rivalry between the two groups. Hamas complains bitterly that Fatah, possibly encouraged by Israel and the US, is refusing to come to terms of Hamas's electoral victory and is trying to rob the Hamas government of its basic powers and authorities, such as controlling police and security forces.
Read More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/re3.htm
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Ezzeddin Al-Qassam, Hamas's military wing, removed their masks for the first time last week after Minister of Interior Said Syiam, of Hamas, boldly sent a 3,000 strong Hamas security command to patrol the streets of Gaza. "We have direct orders from the minister to keep law and order in the Palestinian streets, in light of the complete paralysis of the Palestinian Authority security forces. We are posted on the main roads, intersections, and downtown areas of every city and neighbourhood," stated Rami, a 29-year-old commander of a Hamas unit who has served nine years in Al-Qassam.
President Mahmoud Abbas immediately deployed Palestinian Authority (PA) police forces to patrol alongside them, leading Palestinians to ask why the PA police have not been used over the past year to stop the violence in Gaza. Minister Syiam claims that it is within his legal mandate to create a force to restore law and order in Gaza, although clashes between Al-Qassam and PA security forces, comprised mostly of Fatah loyalists, began almost immediately.
A week of intense violence culminated when a driver from the Jordanian Consulate in Gaza City was accidentally shot to death in a diplomatic vehicle as gunfire was exchanged between Fatah and Hamas. It is unclear who fired the shot. At least 11 others were wounded in the clashes. As of Tuesday, eight Palestinians have died in internal clashes between Fatah and Hamas, and dozens have been wounded. So far there has been no statement made by either Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh or President Abbas on these incidents.
"We do not intend to make one step backwards. The force will stay and will be integrated into the police force. Their task is to protect internal security and if there will be a need to increase its number, we will do it," said Prime Minister Haniyeh after Friday prayer in Gaza City. Abbas told the Hamas-led government it must immediately remove its security force from the streets of Gaza. Minister Syiam insists that during a meeting with Abbas, prior to deployment, he was given a go-ahead; an assertion Abbas's aides deny.
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http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/re4.htm
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Israel has announced its plans for resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With the impending visit of Ehud Olmert to the White House designed to furnish official US endorsement for the new prime minister and his plan of unilateral "withdrawal", it seems sure that Israel will move forward in establishing what it will consider permanent borders. The "withdrawal" from Gaza last August was in a sense a testing ground, of Israeli reaction (both among settlers and non-settlers), Palestinian reaction (both among officials and militant groups) and international dispositions. In all, the government of Israel was quite pleased with its efforts, the withdrawal seeming to vindicate then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's long-held view that there was no point in negotiations and that the Palestinians could be ignored altogether.
However, Gaza remains a prison, perhaps even more so than at any time when settlers held land in the Strip. Before even the election of Hamas and the subsequent cessation of international aid to the Palestinian people, Gaza faced serious humanitarian crises as a result of the strangling and destruction of the Gazan economy. Palestinian leaders of all political and factional stripes dealt with this situation in the only way available to them -- by calling for international assistance, pointing out the measures Israel was taking to make Gaza a living hell, and the absolute powerlessness of their position.
Fairly early on, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recognised the problem of closed borders, remaining on the ground to broker a deal. Yet as with most deals America has brokered between Israel and the Palestinians, the US neglected to follow through and ensure implementation, thus allowing Israel to stonewall and wait for any act of violence upon which to pin responsibility for its own inaction. Quartet Special Envoy James Wolfensohn was sent to the region to monitor the post-Gaza withdrawal and to try to bring international investment in Gaza. He quickly witnessed this long-standing Israeli policy and called it out, but by then his voice was marginal and his early resignation is indication of the powerlessness of anyone seeking to take on Israeli policy for creating facts on the ground.
Since Hamas won parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories it has been under immense pressure to offer Israel recognition. Hamas has simultaneously rejected flat-out recognition while offering a number of unprecedented policy shifts, including spelling out terms for peace with Israel (certainly a form of tacit recognition). Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, has been largely absent from public view, perhaps willing to let the rival political organisation face the challenges of governance alone. However, those who are suffering the most are the Palestinian people, who are facing an economic and social crisis on a scale not seen since Al-Nakba -- the catastrophe -- when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to become refugees as a result of the 1948 war.
What responsible steps should the Palestinian leadership take in order to deal with this crisis? It has been suggested that it is time for capitulation and for Palestinians to forget their history and rights; that Israel's unilateral steps with American support, given the regional context of Iraq, Iran and oil prices mean the Palestinians have no options. Indeed, the primary strategy the Palestinians have pursued to date has been that of sumud (steadfastness) as a means of survival and gaining human and political rights. However, for both Fatah and Hamas today, sumud is being used to justify the continued existence of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA itself is a creation of the Oslo Accords, and was designed by Israel and the United States as a means of establishing an institution by which to bind Yasser Arafat and to outsource the costly aspects of comprehensive occupation (policing, municipal services, health care and education). As such, competition over ministries, budgets and political patronage, particularly given the last decade of corruption, seems a cruel joke at best and a second level of occupation at worst to most Palestinians.
More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/op61.htm
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/5020642.stm