Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The Two Faces of Palestine - Vol. 3 Issue 69

The biggest story of the year so far is the partition of the Palestinian Authority into two separate governments, with the violent Hamas ruling Gaza and the more moderate Fatah ruling the West Bank. Proving to the world that they are incapable of participating in a democratic system, the fundamentalist Hamas faction went on a killing spree, conquered Gaza and sent Prime Minister Abbas fleeing to the West Bank. Ending a week of horrific bloodshed, the Islamist Hamas party now rules over a looming humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The “moderate” Fatah faction controls the West Bank and now claims to be the sole legitimate Palestinian Authority. Israel and the U.S. have endorsed the Fatah government and entered into intense diplomatic activity with the Abbas government. In addition, the West immediately began economic and humanitarian aid (which had previously been withheld) to the Palestinian Authority. At the same time, Gaza is at the complete mercy of Israel which controls access to the territory and the ability of the Palestinians to bring in basic supplies, like food and energy. Israel is allowing food shipments to pass into Gaza. Israel’s desire to prevent the human tragedy of starvation in Gaza is laudable. Once again, Israel has shown greater regard for its self-declared enemy, than that enemy has ever shown for Israel.

The reality is that Israel must now deal with two Palestinian entities, one a fundamentalist terror group, the other less so. It can’t afford to ignore either group. First, an accommodation with Hamas will be necessary to prevent a new wave of rocket attacks from Gaza. At the same time, the West Bank, now solely under the rule of Fatah, must be dealt with as a “partner for peace.” The Fatah party is still the heart and soul of the Palestinian nationalist movement, and as such Israel must carefully negotiate a future two-state solution for the region. In every tragedy lies an opportunity. Perhaps in the future Hamas’s aggression against its own people will be known as the event that allowed a breakthrough in negotiations between the Palestinian people and the people of Israel. Only through some sort of power sharing arrangement between Fatah and Hamas, can Israel achieve any lasting security. With Hamas facing starvation in Gaza Israel is in a position to negotiate meaningful concessions. Then again, the radical elements of the Palestinian Authority have always been able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Let’s hope they have learned something in the last 60 years.

Savant