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What Happens To Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation After Gaza Conflict?

What Happens To Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation After Gaza Conflict?

By Daniella Cheslow, McClatchy Foreign Staff

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who’s considered the architect of the April agreement that reunited Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah movement in a unity Palestinian government, paused as he contemplated his groundbreaking deal in the wake of Israel’s crushing campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Then he acknowledged that the situation might be different had Hamas not taken the course it did.

“Why the hell spend all this money and effort just showing off?” Shaath asked during an interview with McClatchy. “Hamas did not want this war. . . . They just needed a promise that at the end of the cease-fire there would be a normal life for Gazans. But by not throwing rockets, maybe they could have avoided giving excuses to the Israelis.”

Shaath’s comments, made Sunday as the Palestinian death toll passed 1,000, underscore the deep differences that remain between the freshly reconciled Palestinian factions, even as Israel and Hamas fight. Fatah and Hamas split violently seven years ago when Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah in fierce fighting. The movements remained bitter rivals until they signed the reconciliation pact in late April.

During the years they were split, Fatah and Hamas viewed each other with acrimony. Under Abbas, Fatah pledged “nonviolent resistance,” meaning diplomatic pressure on Israel. Hamas, on the other hand, is the flag bearer of forceful resistance, including firing rockets at Israel, mostly without effect, and burrowing tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border to enable attacks.

The current operation in Gaza is challenging the Fatah strategy, according to Alaa Rimawi, an expert on Islamic politics.

“The message of Hamas was always that Israel will never give you a state, and it seems the Hamas prediction was right,” Rimawi said. “Fatah is in crisis. . . . Fatah and Hamas are now presently on the same track.”

Shaath is intimately familiar with the tensions between Hamas and Fatah. During the long hostility between Hamas and Fatah, he was instrumental in shuttling from the West Bank to Gaza to hammer out an agreement. Under the unity deal signed in April, the two sides were to form an interim government within five weeks and hold parliamentary elections six months later. So far the interim government hasn’t been formed because of the campaign.

Shaath said some Fatah members still harbored bad feelings toward Hamas. “Yes, there are some of us who still think of the fraternal enemy more than they think of the real enemy,” he said. However, many of these Fatah members have been galvanized against Israel by the spiraling death toll in Gaza, he said.

A turning point came last week, when Abbas adopted the Hamas demands for a cease-fire with Israel, including opening border crossings with Israel and Egypt and building an airport and seaport.

Shaath didn’t endorse violence against Israel. In fact, he said, Palestinian police continue to check for weapons at rallies and to keep a tight lid on what could escalate into violent protest and lead to a third “intifada,” the term used to describe previous prolonged periods of anti-Israel violence.

However, he noted that “the word intifada does not mean violence. An intifada is an uprising, its people saying ‘no’ to the occupation. . . . If Israelis continue in Gaza, there will be an intifada, and my duty will be to steer that in a nonviolent direction.”

In Ramallah, Fatah seemed rejuvenated by its clearer line against Israel. Shaath squeezed in the interview after meeting with Russian diplomats and British dignitaries. His office director was one of the planners of a large protest at Qalandiya last week in which thousands took part.

Others in Ramallah were less sure. Abu Samaha, a worker in a sandwich shop, marched in last week’s demonstration that began in his neighborhood, the al Amari refugee camp.

“May God give power to Ismail Haniyeh and Gaza,” he said, speaking of the Hamas leader. “Abbas is a mayor, not a president. His decision-making is not in his hands.”

Cheslow is a McClatchy special correspondent.

AFP Photo/Jack Guez

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U.S., Israel Split Over Hamas Backing Of Palestinian Government

U.S., Israel Split Over Hamas Backing Of Palestinian Government

By Joel Greenberg, McClatchy Foreign Staff

JERUSALEM — The inauguration of a Palestinian unity government backed by the militant Islamist group Hamas has opened a public rift between Israel and the United States over policy toward the interim Cabinet sworn in Monday by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The announcement by Washington that it would do business with the new government — a Cabinet of technocrats backed by Abbas’ Fatah faction and Hamas as part of a reconciliation deal — has drawn sharp rebukes from Israeli officials.

Their remarks reflect mounting concern about growing international acceptance of the new Palestinian government, which received expressions of support Tuesday from the European Union and the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in comments Tuesday to the Associated Press distributed by his office, said the U.S. announcement “deeply troubled” him, adding that Hamas had murdered “countless innocent civilians.”

“All those who genuinely seek peace must reject President Abbas’ embrace of Hamas, and most especially I think the United States must make it absolutely clear to the Palestinian president that his pact with Hamas, a terrorist organization that seeks Israel’s liquidation, is simply unacceptable,” Netanyahu said.

In rare open criticism of the Obama administration by an Israeli envoy, Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, said Israel was “deeply disappointed” by a State Department announcement Monday that the United States intends to “work with” the unity government and maintain American aid to the Palestinian Authority because the new Cabinet doesn’t include members of Hamas.

Israel, the United States and the European Union consider the militant Islamist group — which refuses to recognize Israel and has carried out suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israeli cities — a terrorist organization.

“Had Hamas changed, it would be one thing,” Dermer wrote late Monday in a Facebook posting. “But Hamas hasn’t changed. It remains as committed to Israel’s destruction today as it was yesterday.”

“This Palestinian unity government is a government of technocrats backed by terrorists, and should be treated as such,” Dermer added. “With suits in the front office and terrorists in the back office, it should not be business as usual.”

The Israeli security Cabinet authorized Netanyahu on Monday to impose unspecified “additional sanctions” on the Palestinian Authority, and it reiterated Israel’s refusal to negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that Secretary of State John Kerry had phoned Netanyahu before her announcement to inform him of the American position.

“At this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas,” Psaki said. “Moving forward, we will be judging this government by its actions. Based on what we know now, we intend to work with this government, but we’ll be watching closely to ensure that it upholds principles that President Abbas reiterated today.”

Acroll via Flickr

Palestinian Leader Denounces Holocaust As ‘Heinous Crime’

Palestinian Leader Denounces Holocaust As ‘Heinous Crime’

By Batsheva Sobelman and Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau

JERUSALEM — At a time when the Middle East peace process appears stymied, Israel received an unexpected olive branch when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the Holocaust and expressed sympathy with its victims.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the comments a play for public opinion and called on the Palestinian leader to “tear up” his recent pact with the militant Islamist movement Hamas.

“What happened to the Jews in the Holocaust is the most heinous crime known by mankind in modern times,” said Abbas, according to a statement published Sunday by the Palestinian government news agency WAFA.

Abbas expressed sympathy for the families who died at the hands of the Nazis and called the world to “safeguard the oppressed and weak wherever they are found.” The Palestinians, “still oppressed and denied freedom and peace,” are the first to stand up for those facing such crimes, he said.

The Palestinian leader made his comments in response to a question last week during a meeting with Marc Schneier, an American rabbi promoting interfaith understanding.

Abbas’ comments were made public Sunday; Israel was set to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day starting Sunday evening. It was the strongest language about the Holocaust ever used by the Palestinian president, whom Israeli officials have called a Holocaust denier in the past.

Drawing a link to the present, Abbas used the occasion of the “incredibly sad commemoration of Holocaust Day” to urge Israel’s government “to take this opportunity to achieve just and comprehensive peace” based on a two-state solution.

Netanyahu also tied past and present together but drew different conclusions as he commented on U.S. television about the agreement last week between Abbas’ Fatah movement and Hamas to create a Palestinian unity government.

“Hamas denies the Holocaust even as it attempts to create an additional Holocaust by destroying the state of Israel. It is with this Hamas that Abu Mazen chose to form an alliance,” said Netanyahu, referring to Abbas by his nickname.

Abbas was trying “to placate and somehow smooth over the fact that he made a terrible step away from peace,” Netanyahu said, calling on the Palestinian leader to “tear up your pact with Hamas. Recognize the Jewish state. Make peace.”

“But you can’t have both peace with Hamas and peace with Israel,” he said.

Israel has suspended its involvement in peace talks led by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry so long as Abbas moves ahead with the reconciliation with Hamas.

Templar1307 via Flickr

Israel Suspends Peace Talks With Palestinians Over Unity Deal

Israel Suspends Peace Talks With Palestinians Over Unity Deal

By Batsheva Sobelman, Los Angeles Times

JERUSALEM — Israel is suspending its involvement in peace talks and planning a series of sanctions against the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Thursday.

The decision, after a six-hour Israeli Cabinet meeting, followed Wednesday’s announcement of a reconciliation agreement between the two leading Palestinian factions, which will bring the militant Islamist movement Hamas into a new Palestinian government within weeks.

“The government of Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that relies on Hamas,” the statement said, noting the Cabinet decision was unanimous.

Instead of choosing peace with Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made “a pact with a murderous terror organization that calls for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would not hold talks with the Palestinians as long as the unity initiative continues.

The sanctions to come include a previously announced Israeli plan to deduct Palestinian debts to Israeli companies from the tax revenues Israel collects for the frequently cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.

The reconciliation agreement was the latest in a long chain of events that had already threatened the 9-month-old peace process, which was largely driven by Secretary of State John F. Kerry and had repeatedly brought him to the region. Even before Israel’s announcement, prospects were slim for extending talks beyond their deadline, which was a week away.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, agreed Wednesday to end their seven-year schism and form a new Palestinian government made of independents and technocrats by June. Under the deal, election for parliament and the presidency will be held next year.

Abbas intends to issue presidential orders for implementing the agreement in coming weeks, according to media reports.

Making the unity accord a reality won’t be easy. The two main Palestinian factions remain deeply divided on key issues, first and foremost the diplomatic process with Israel. Agreements reached in the past eventually fell apart.

Israel rejects Hamas as a terror organization. The U.S. and Europe hold similar positions.

Netanyahu slammed Abbas for turning down U.S. initiatives, refusing to recognize Israel as the national homeland of the Jews and unilateral moves violating agreements.

Numerous Palestinian officials from Fatah emphasized throughout the day that Palestinian unity does not negate negotiations with Israel. Abbas said there was no contradiction between Palestinian reconciliation and negotiations with Israel.

Moreover, he said, reconciliation was needed to strengthen any agreement reached with Israel in the future.

“The two-state solution is the only game in town,” Palestinian politician Jibril Rajub told Israeli media, calling both Israel’s government as well as Palestinian factions to support Abbas’ policies.

Hamas comments reflected ambiguity. Ghazi Hamad of the Hamas government in Gaza told Israeli media that Hamas has said it would accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders but would not recognize Israel.

Others emphasized that Hamas would not accept conditions called for by the international community in the past, including renouncing violence and accepting all previously signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

According to hawks among Israeli ministers, there is little difference between Fatah and Hamas anyway.

“Hamas wages classic terror … Abu Mazen wages diplomatic terror,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, referring to Abbas by a nickname. Tourism Minister Uzi Landau was more blunt, saying it was “like the difference between Jack the Ripper and the Boston Strangler.”

 Acroll via Flickr