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  • Reconciliation In Search Of A Political Programme .

    RECONCILIATION IN SEARCH OF A POLITICAL PROGRAMME

    Middle East Monitor
    April 30 2014

    Saqr Abu Fakhr
    Wednesday, 30 April 2014 16:46

    Since the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations stalled in 2010,
    the Palestinian cause seemed to be let down in two aspects: the
    reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas and the futile negotiations
    with Israel. Over the past four years, and even years before that,
    the idea of national liberation gradually dwindled in the Palestinian
    political discourse and the Palestine issue seemed insolvable,
    especially after the establishment of the conviction amongst the
    Palestinian elite that there is a tendency among Arab countries to
    get rid of the burden of their cause which would make the Palestinian
    issue similar to that of the Armenians.

    Despite the fact that the track record of the reconciliation between
    Fatah and Hamas is full of unfulfilled deadlines such as the Mecca
    agreement in 2007, the Cairo Agreement in 2011 and the Doha agreement
    in 2012, the reconciliation must have been achieved, at least after
    the Israeli aggression against Gaza in 2012. However, Ismail Haniyeh
    waited until December 19, 2013, to call for a comprehensive national
    meeting to discuss establishing a national consensus government based
    on the Cairo and Doha agreements. However, the reconciliation was not
    achieved due to Hamas' refusal to integrate the security services and
    insisted that the selection of the prime minister was not President
    Mahmoud Abbas' right but is Hamas' right.

    Since then, the Arab situation turned upside down and violence broke
    out all over the region. Things went in every direction and even
    took President Mohammed Morsi's government in Egypt down, allowing,
    by force and due to the reality of the situation, the execution of the
    current incitement campaign, the duration of which is still unknown.

    We do not know where the Palestinians will be able to withstand these
    cyclones or if they will be blown away. It was interesting that the
    reconciliation delegation that departed from Ramallah and headed to
    Gaza did not include anyone with serious political weight, except
    for Azzam Al-Ahmad. It did, however, include billionaire businessman
    Munib Al-Masri which indicates the possibility of Al-Masri heading the
    national consensus government which was supposed to be formed with
    qualified independent individuals in accordance with the agreement,
    in the event Abbas is not appointed prime minister himself.

    It is well-known that for over four years Al-Masri has been seeking to
    achieve reconciliation and he has a plan to this end, the articles and
    stipulations of which he has continued to present to every Palestinian
    and Arab party.

    There is no doubt that the participation of Hamas in any Palestinian
    government will bring us back, once again, to the conditions of the
    International Quartet, which dictate the condemnation of terrorism and
    the recognition of the Oslo Accords and the other agreements branching
    from it, including the security agreements and the acceptance of
    direct negotiations in order to apply the terms of Oslo.

    However, the members of the Quartet will ultimately agree to Hamas'
    presence and get used to it in any Palestinian government, as they
    have become used to Hezbollah's presence in successive Lebanese
    governments. On the other hand, Hamas began to speak in a new
    tongue, as if its "updated" language was being used as a prelude to
    a new policy. In a speech made on October 19, 2013, Ismail Haniyeh
    condemned the support of terrorism in Gaza in the context of a call
    for Palestinian reconciliation, while leader of Hamas' political
    bureau Khaled Meshaal did not hesitate to say "Israel exists as a
    fait accompli (...) and the acceptance of the 1967 borders means
    the recognition of the existence of Israel" (Al-Mushahid Al-Siyasi
    magazine - London, March 18, 2007). He has also said in an interview
    conducted by Ken Livingstone for London's New Statesman magazine and
    published on September 17, 2009, that "We do, in Hamas, believe that
    a realistic peaceful settlement to the conflict will have to begin
    with a ceasefire agreement between the two sides based on a full
    withdrawal of Israel from all the territories occupied in 1967."

    What is left of the political dispute between Hamas and Fatah regarding
    their position on a political settlement? Nothing. Hamas' position
    in this regard is almost identical of Fatah's and Hamas now no longer
    has a political project.

    Also, Hamas can no longer turn back the hands of time at a moment after
    Morsi's rule in Egypt ended and after the pages of "the caliphate"
    have been turned, although Haniyeh had imagined that such pages were
    open, as stated in a speech he made on July 20, 2012.

    Accordingly, Hamas, which appeared during the first phase of the
    Egyptian revolution as part of the Muslim Brotherhood, now appears
    without any project other than the security of Gaza, and even this
    project failed with the collapse of the Brotherhood in Egypt.

    Fatah is going forward with the reconciliation under the pressure
    of desperation and Hamas is doing the same. The first steps of this
    reconciliation is to agree on a comprehensive political programme,
    while procedural matters such as elections, the government and the
    prime minister are ultimately details in the greater scheme of things.

    This reconciliation will not be a success or positive unless the two
    authorities unite in the form of one central authority, with Hamas
    included after it gives up its unilateral authority of Gaza and after
    the security services are integrated into one. Otherwise, let's go
    towards a handicapped, laughable and dead Palestinian federation. If
    we take a pencil and divide it into two, it becomes two pencils,
    but if we take a bird with two wings and cut it into two, it becomes
    two pieces of dead meat, not two birds.

    Translated from Al Araby Al Jadid 30 April, 2014

    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/11201-reconciliation-in-search-of-a-political-programme


    From: Baghdasarian
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