AMMAN: When the PLO leadership was in exile, Yasser Arafat would often stress the “independent Palestinian decision . His statements about independence had nothing to do with Israel; those who were able to decipher these words knew that Arafat was signaling opposition to Arab meddling in Palestinian affairs. Those days are long gone.
The current conflict between Hamas and the PLO’s Fateh faction is amplified and complicated by Arab and non-Arab countries interfering in Palestinian politics. This is exemplified by the statements of spokespeople from both factions; neither side is emphasizing the independence of Palestinian decision-making because it is now clear that such independent decision-making without some role for Arab or foreign countries no longer exists. Geographic proximity, regional power, and money determine which countries have the most influence.
Arabs and other non-Palestinian foreigner interference became very obvious shortly after members tied to Hamas won the majority of seats in the 2006 elections for the Palestinian legislature. A US-led effort resulted in the de-legitimisation of the new Palestinian Authority. The world community was told point blank not to recognise the signature of the Palestinian finance minister. All of a sudden the Palestinians were not able to move money from the West Bank to Gaza or from anywhere in the world to either Gaza or the West Bank. Arab and Islamic banks didn t dare challenge this US-led siege.
The Mecca deal was an attempt by Saudi Arabia at bringing about reconciliation between Hamas and Fateh. It included the understanding that the Saudis and Fateh leaders would make an effort to obtain a full or partial lifting of the siege on the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Once it became clear that the siege was not going to be lifted, the hard-line wing of Hamas took over and carried out the coup that resulted in the Islamic movement taking over the Gaza Strip.
Egypt by the fact of its shared border with Gaza and its excellent relations with the PLO was the obvious leader in reconciliation attempts between Hamas and Fateh. The Syrians and Iranians, generally seen as the political and financial backers of Hamas, were not very supportive. Qatar, along with Al Jazzera TV, took a pro-Hamas position, too, especially after the Israeli war on Gaza late in 2008. Most other Arabs supported Mahmoud Abbas and the Ramallah-based leadership.
Now the position of some of the foreign powers has shifted. The rapprochement between the Obama administration and Damascus, as well as with Tehran (although less obvious), has caused concern with Hamas.
The sudden visit by the Saudi monarch King Abdullah to Damascus was also closely watched by the rulers of Gaza and their Damascus-based leaders.
While the differing parties have at times shown indifference to local Palestinian and Arab public opinion, the possibility of elections down the line has made leaders more conscious of their own actions and statements. This makes the coming months an opportune time for independents and community leaders to speak out and press both sides to reconcile. For that reason, we are seeing these factions pay attention to how they are being perceived by the public, so every statement or action is spun in such a way as to make each party appear to be in support of reconciliation while painting the other side to be opposed to it.
While the Palestinian public can be fooled some of the time, it is obviously not fooled all the time. As this Palestinian public gets stronger and is able to make a stronger case for their call for reconciliation the warring factions will be forced to bring about unity irrespective of external pressures. If all efforts to get both parties to reconcile fail, a deadline must be set, by which these public leaders announce that they will point fingers to whichever party, in their opinion, is holding up Palestinian unity.
Daoud Kuttab is an award winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. His email is [email protected]. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
