Ayoon Wa Azan (It Is All at the Expense of the Cause and the People)

There is a myth that is often repeated when talking about the Palestinian issue: according to this myth, the interference of external powers, some of which are Arab, while others are foreign, is what prevents the [Intra-Palestinian] reconciliation, which is something that I might have reiterated myself once. However, I have recently come to the conclusion that the dispute is intra-Palestinian in nature, and is basically a power struggle. Foreign powers, as such, are as innocent, in this regard, as the wolf in the story of Joseph is.

Today, there is a Palestinian faction that wants negotiations [with Israel] but does not negotiate, and another faction that insists on resistance, but does not resist. Therefore, the reconciliation is hindered, and should it ever be achieved, it will only be limited to paper, on which it will be written, and will never be between the hearts and minds. Thus, my other belief is that signing the reconciliation will not mean that it will be implemented. In fact, we all saw that Fatah is not offering anything to help the reconciliation being enforced, and saw how Hamas is hiding behind the Goldstone report, which I attacked along with its drafter, considering it an excuse to not proceed with the reconciliation.

Meanwhile, all of this is happening, while Israel itself is being condemned, and even convicted by the whole world (except the U.S Congress); after sixty years, during which the Jews were considered as victims and Israel was blackmailing the world, these victims have turned into a murderer who treats the Palestinians in the same way he was treated by the Nazis. Alternatively, instead of taking advantage of this situation to promote their cause, we find that the Palestinian factions are doing their possible to rescue the fascist government in Israel, which is currently extremely fearful of how the outside world might be dealing with it.

While Palestinians are waging war against one another, Benjamin Netanyahu said - regarding the Goldstone report - that the countries that voted in favour of the report at the UN Human Rights Council, voted against peace and for terror; but in fact, he is the a real terrorist and enemy of peace, who is exploiting the Intra-Palestinian strife as a fig leaf to hide his own political infamies. Meanwhile, the brothel-keeper Avigdor Lieberman said that anyone who supports the report should expect that follow-up steps to the Goldstone report might focus on NATO forces in Afghanistan and Russian forces in Chechnya, as if he thinks that all the armies in the world are terrorist Nazis, in the same way the Israeli army is.

Did the reader notice anything new on the Palestinian scene in the recent months? There is an ongoing Egyptian mediation because the Gaza strip has borders with Egypt, and is ruled by an Islamist faction that is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and that has direct relations with Iran. In other words, the Egyptian mediation is serving a national Egyptian interest before any other consideration. Meanwhile, the Arab countries have washed their hands clean of the Palestinian problems, and His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the sponsor of the Mecca agreement, does not want to be lied to again, because the believer shall not be bitten twice from the same pit. Also, King Abdullah II expresses his concerns as such and gives warnings, but does not interfere, to avoid having his fingers burned. In the meantime, Syria has left the Palestinians to solve their own problems, to the extent that President Bashar al-Assad no longer tries to reunite Abu Mazen and Abu el-Walid together, when the Palestinian President visits Damascus. Then there is also Qatar, whose leadership was one of the most active Arab mediators, and which is now mediating in problems in Africa, the Middle East, and perhaps even Latin America if that was requested of it, but never between the Palestinians.

In the meantime, Obama’s administration says everything that is good and required for peace, but does everything that Israel dictates upon it, or in other words, has good thoughts, good words, but bad deeds.

In fact, the Palestinians are now on the verge of a constitutional vacuum, if simultaneous presidential and legislative elections are not held on the 25th of January or so. Also, the President is supposed to call for elections three months prior to this date; in any case, the president’s aides have insinuated and stated that he will declare his position on the 25th of this month.

However, Hamas does not want the elections to be held, and is content with its Islamic emirate in Gaza. Even the liberal British press which is usually in favour – of Gaza – is conveying some disturbing news from there: For instance, the Independent published a two-page article last week entitled “After the Bombing, Drug Addiction Strikes Gaza”, in which Donald Macintyre, the article’s writer, talks about how Gazans are turning to pills and drugs as they seek to escape their misery; and last Monday, the Guardian published another two-page article written by Rory McCarthy entitled: “Quick Sands: Hamas patrols beaches in Gaza to enforce conservative dress code”, as if the entire cause has become about tight jeans as we have read, or about a stranger matter that was mentioned in the report itself, where Taleb Abu Shaar, the Hamas Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, talked about the fadeela [virtue] education campaign and said that the Hijab [veil] is an essential element to being a Muslim and that wearing the headscarf is as essential as prayer.

How can the Hijab be as essential as prayers, fasting and pilgrimage to the house of God? I hope that the reporter had made a mistake because what was published about Hamas rather represents the Taliban.

In the end, I want to say that there will be no end to the intra-Palestinian strife, and that the Palestinian Authority wants simultaneous elections, because it believes that Hamas will pay the price for its policies, while the latter does not want the elections to be held. This is because, in addition to the disputes regarding the electoral law itself, Hamas has a justified cause for its concern: the persecution of its leaders and partisans in the West Bank will lead to its defeat, which is true. However, the intra-Palestinian conflict goes against both the winner and the loser, and it is all at the expense of the [Palestinian] cause and people.