28/02/2009 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday any unity government with Hamas would have to agree to a two-state solution with Israel, a demand quickly rejected by his political rivals.
"We are moving in steady steps towards ... a national unity government that abides by our known commitments, which include the two-state vision and the signed (peace) commitments," Abbas said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Hamas official Ayman Taha in Gaza said Abbas's comments undermine chances for reaching a unity agreement.
"We reject any pre-conditions in the formation of the unity government. Hamas will never accept a unity government that recognizes Israel," Taha said.
A dozen Palestinian factions including Fatah and Hamas began reconciliation talks in Cairo on Thursday to try to agree by March 20 on a unity government. Previous efforts by Arab negotiators to reconcile Fatah and Hamas have failed.
A deal could lead to the lifting of Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip and boost Abbas's peacemaking efforts with Israel.
Hamas slams Clinton's statement about recognizing Israeli occupation
[ 28/02/2009 - 01:57 PM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Saturday strongly denounced the statements of US foreign minister Hillary Clinton in which she said that the inter-Palestinian dialog would not culminate in success if Hamas did not recognize Israel, saying this is an unacceptable blatant interference in Palestinian affairs.
In an exclusive press statement to the PIC, Dr. Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas leader, underlined that his Movement would never recognize the Israeli occupation or the conditions of the quartet which showed all the time an obvious bias in favor of Israel.
Dr. Radwan called on all parties not to succumb to the American pressures which are supposed to be placed on Israel that occupies and appropriates the Palestinian lands, kills the Palestinian people, and Judaizes Jerusalem.
Kum Ba Yah Undone
Roughly 48 hours after the signing of the agreement between Hamas and Fatah to form a unity government and work together, trouble started brewing.
While, we love the idea of Palestinian leaders holding hands, making out and holding a joint press conference, Arab news sources reported Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO chairman and the Palestinian president had a plan of his own.
In Ramallah during a Saturday press conference with EU head Javier Solana today. He insisted that Hamas accepts the two state solution in order to start working with them. Even according to this interpretation, Hamas would only be aligned with the next Israeli government, at worse.
Why is Abbas playing with conditions now? It could hurt the more important project of unity. Hamas Spokesperson, Aiman Taah:
Abbas statements jeopardize the chances of forming a unity governmentClearly, President Abbas has either changed his mind, or received a pissy call from Washington. Perhaps Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reminded President Abbas that he might be grounded and lose his allowance. Hillary herself is on the hot seat (imagine that) with some Jewish leaders for doing nothing more than stating the obvious, that Israel is not doing enough to alleviate the Palestinian suffering.
One thing is for sure, Algeria remains the the land of a million martyrs, but thanks to this unity agreement, Palestine is now officially the land of a million committees.
United outside the system
As Hanitizer wrote yesterday, this week saw the beginning of the long-awaiting Palestinian unity talks that aim to end the bitter divide between Fatah and Hamas and provide a platform for the adoption of a unified strategy towards the Israeli occupation.
The preliminary talks that took place this week seemed to have been conducted in a positive atmosphere; not only is there a clear and universal appreciation for the need for unity, but in the aftermath of the war on Gaza Palestinian factions seem closer than ever in their political stances. That a clear target has been set (the formation of a national unity government by the end of March) is another indication of how much the politicians seem to have realized that they cannot move forward without each other.
While these signs along with the joint press conferences conducted by the factions point to progress, I fear that continuing to work within the parameters of the defunct Oslo Accords by setting up another Palestinian Authority government can only end in disaster.
The internal fallout in Palestinian society throughout the 15 years of the so-called peace process is a direct effect of the Oslo Accords, which set up the limited (and increasingly ineffective) PA. From the onset, the PA was meant to be a limited-but not autonomous-body that directed the civil affairs of the Palestinians in specific, fractured areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Although it was meant to be replaced by an independent Palestinian government by 1998, the PA has become a permanent institution, unable to challenge Israel’s abuse of Palestinians or check the occupation’s ever increasing expansion into the land ear-marked for a future Palestinian state.
Two examples of the detrimental role the PA plays towards the struggle for liberty came in the past few days. About a week ago, Israel served all the inhabitants (80 households) of the Bustan neighborhood of the Silwan area in East Jerusalem with demolition orders, the largest such order since 1967. Around 1,500 Palestinians are to be made homeless so that their land can be turned into a park for Jewish settlers.
Although there is widespread rage at this gross (but typical) Israeli violation of Palestinian rights, the episode demonstrated the impotence of the PA in the face of Israeli transgressions. Apart from calling for a general strike in the West Bank (which does not affect Israel in the least), the PA could muster no more than a verbal condemnation of the demolition orders. Meanwhile, the people of Silwan and the tens of thousands of Palestinians whose homes have been demolished and whose land is confiscated daily by the occupation have no official body to protect them.
And yet, even as Israel announces plans for further settlement expansion and the Palestinians are herded into ever shrinking cantons, the PA continues to stick to the impossible vision of a two state solution to end the conflict. Today Mahmoud Abbas, former President of the Palestinian Authority, current dictator and self-described President of the non-existent state of Palestine, threw the unity talks their first challenge by proclaiming that any unity government must accept the (now impossible) two state solution.
Abbas’ support, particularly after the war on Gaza (the clearest indicator of the incapacity of the PA) has plummeted spectacularly, and he is seen as being completely out of touch with reality. Even as he faces pressure from within Fatah itself to suspend negotiations with Israel and reconcile with Hamas, Abbas continues to play the role assigned to him as head of the PA by clinging to the long-dead peace process even as Israeli colonialism and expansionism continues to bury it. Abbas also seems oblivious to the fact that the next Israeli prime minister has clearly and repeatedly stated that he does not believe in a two state solution.
The PA, by its very nature, serves Israel’s interests before the interests of the Palestinian people. A national unity government within this system will continue to impede the advancement of the Palestinian struggle. The reconciliation talks will also discuss the reactivation of the PLO and the integration of Hamas and Islamic Jihad within it, so that the Palestinian people will have one representative, one leadership and one strategy leading their struggle. That is the unity that will move us forward.
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