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Palestine is paying the price for peace

Published 22 October 2009

The west must realise that weakening the Palestinian secular side plays into the hands of Hamas

Barack Obama's approach to peacemaking in the Middle East has so far been a success - if the aim was to weaken the Palestinian Authority (PA) and President Mahmoud Abbas. As Israeli and Palestinian delegations tour Washington, Obama receives international recognition for his efforts and Israel's leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, has stabilised his centre-right coalition. Abbas is left out in the cold, and a poll this month showed that his people's confidence in him has fallen from 17.8 per cent in June to 12.1 per cent.

The PA has made serious attempts to establish itself as a reliable partner for peace. In August, Abbas (with Tel Aviv's silent co-operation) responded to US overtures by convening the first Fatah convention in 20 years, renewing the party leadership, neutralising radicals from abroad and backing negotiations with Israel. At the same time, the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, has tackled corruption and nepotism, rejected the rhetoric of military liberation and, with US support, improved security in the West Bank. For the first time in Palestinian history, Fayyad has also elaborated on a detailed, two-year road map for state-building.

In September, Abbas set aside preconditions and publicly met with Obama and Netanyahu in New York. His handshake with the man who favours "economic peace" came at a high price in Palestinian public opinion. The price became even steeper early this month, when Abbas agreed to hold back the UN Human Rights Council's Goldstone report. This accuses Israel and Hamas of grave human rights violations. His decision led to fury in the Palestinian streets, forcing him to allow the report to be discussed after all.

What has Abbas got in return for his efforts to co-operate? Obama's call for final-status negotiations, to the sound of the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements. On 16 October, the Israeli organisation Peace Now reported new construction in 34 locations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The prospect of a solution fades with Abbas's standing in the territories. The west needs to understand that weakening the Palestinian secular camp plays into the hands of more uncompromising forces.

Ghassan Khatib is a former PA minister. Michael Bröning works at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation

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2 comments from readers

hannah
23 October 2009 at 15:19

Neither Abbas nor the PA have ever represented the Palestinian people. They represent their paymasters, the US and Israel. It is pointless trying to build up the PA as the 'secular' and therefore 'acceptable' face of the Palestinians. Abbas should step down and the PA disbanded. The PLO needs to reform and offer the Palestinians real, non-corrupt leadership. That means the West has to accept that the Palestinians have the right to self-determination. I don't see anyone telling the Israelis who they should vote for or refusing to speak to Netanyahu or Lieberman.

Philistinetheartlover
24 October 2009 at 09:59

As a Palestinian I have to say that I'm simply amazed at the irrational hysteria there's in the West against Hamas.

In my 33 years in the US I've heard one, o-n-e, interview of a Hamas official. I happened to stumble upon it while I was changing radio stations in my car about a year ago.

It's sad to see how many on the right AND left in any given Western country still believes in monsters under the bed, and that monster is called Hamas.

The fact that Palestine has been under occupation for over 42 years counts for nothing to these folks.

Who is Hamas after all? Hamas is made up of men and women and, yes, even some Palestinian Christians, who have been born, gone to school and had families under a ruthless military occupation and who are now watching their children and grandchildren being born, going to school, and having families under the same freaking Israeli occupation.

One would think that whatever show of anger by these folks would be excused or, at least, understood by anyone who cares about human rights.

But for some reason Hamas has been made faceless by the entire spectrum of the Western media, with a handful of exceptions, I suppose.

Not even the biggest and freest elections in the history of the Arab world which Hamas won in January of 2006 is recognized by Israeli appeasers.

And these are the same appeasers who would waste no time whatsoever in proposing negotiations between the West and the Taliban, and who waste no time in kissing the behind of and tolerate the most archaic and backward country in the entire world, Saudi Arabia.

The hypocrysy in all of this is mind boggling. It doesn't make sense, it just doesn't make any sense.

There are no two ways about it: If you believe in the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza regardless of how long it has gone on for, you're nothing but a freaking racist.

If you have an ounce of decency in your heart you'd realize there's no excuse whatsoever for this to go on.

No excuse.