Hamas must give up its mandate, by W. M. Awad

Hamas must give up mandate

Walid M Awad

20-May-07

ONE committee meeting after another was held in Gaza to find a solution for the protracted infighting there.

On Wednesday evening a truce was finally struck. The same day, Israel found it convenient and appropriate to hit Gaza. Israeli warplanes attacked Palestinian targets, including buildings and moving vehicles in which at least 15 Palestinians were killed and more than 40 injured, many seriously.

As usual, the pinpoint Israeli attacks are never on target, and many civilian bystanders, mostly women and children, were hit.

The occupied Palestinian territories are in a big mess, a mess created by the Israeli occupation. One very significant mess the occupation has caused is the rift among the Palestinians on how best to end the occupation and the conflict. One aspect of this rift is causing the current difficult and ugly infighting taking place in Gaza.

So far the local media refers to the clashes between Hamas militias and Palestinian security forces, including armed men affiliated to Fatah, as regrettable incidents. This, when in fact, what is taking place in Gaza are bloody clashes, best described as criminal actions motivated by political and other agendas. Hamas was elected in January last year, because many believed the Oslo accords had failed, and a chance should be given to Hamas to pursue its strategy. Since that election, after which Hamas took the reins of power, the Palestinian situation deteriorated very fast.

One very negative outcome of that election is the fact that the Palestinian people are being led now by two opposing parties, with two different agendas, and two different world views, and most important of all two different visions on how to deal with the occupation and Israel. Like a cart being pulled by two horses going in opposite directions.

Gaza is one of the most congested areas on earth, poverty-stricken and under siege. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children currently are hungry, electricity supplies minimal, and municipal services dysfunctional. Over the last five days the dead and wounded due to the infighting has exceeded 241 people. In short, if the infighting in Gaza continues for another few days, the world community will have a catastrophic humanitarian disaster unfolding before its eyes.

The Palestinian security forces, due to internal legal constraints, lack of equipment and other necessary resources, are apparently unable to take the necessary action to end the infighting. International sanctions have crippled the Palestinian economy.

Hamas thinks and believes it has a legitimate authority to implement its agenda, and has no time for any suggestion that stipulates that it might need even to rethink it.

Many believe Hamas does not have a Palestinian national agenda. It has an ideological agenda, a pan-Islamic agenda as advocated by the Islamic Brotherhood movement, and this as far as Hamas is concerned, has priority above all else.

Furthermore, as Hamas has its own worldview, and can only accept its own vision for a solution for the Middle East conflict, Hamas is willing and is sacrificing all Palestinian national gains achieved by the Palestinian people, led by the Palestine Liberation Organisation over the last forty years, and those gained after the Oslo peace accords, in particular.

The situation that has developed over the last few months, culminating in the latest showdown between Fatah and Hamas, and the inability of all despite frantic efforts to calm the situation down, dictates the need to search for new effective ways to deal with the standoff.

If Hamas does not rethink its position, and or is not convinced of changing it, the likely outcome of the ongoing infighting is more debilitating, and would render Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence worthless.

In the circumstances, and in the absence of internal agreed-upon understandings that would end the infighting for good, create an environment conducive to renewing efforts towards a just peace in accordance with United Nations resolutions, President Bush's two-state vision, the Arab peace initiative, and the road map, the only way out of the disastrous situation in Gaza is an effective and determined effort to help the Palestinian National Authority and the PLO.

This help and assistance can take many forms and shapes. The bottom line is to end the infighting, restore normal life to Gaza, end the siege on its people, enable freedom, create job opportunities, and enhance the education system. Israel, which has a vested interest in weakening the Palestinian people, must stay out.

As a matter of fact, part of such help would be to pressure Israel to stop its aggression in the West Bank and Gaza, release Palestinian funds and end its crippling siege. A collective Arab initiative for assistance supported by the Quartet is the only feasible action that might produce the desired results.

All help and assistance needed by the elected president of the Palestinian people and his government to take whatever measures necessary to enforce the principle of one gun one law and one authority must be granted to them.

All outlawed militias must be dissolved and all outlawed weapons must be confiscated. Hamas, initially an honorable Islamic resistance movement, does not have by definition a clear internationally-acceptable political vision for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and subsequently was rejected by the relevant politically-active world community.

Hamas tenure in office therefore has cost the Palestinian people much world support and sympathy, allowed others to impose crippling sanctions on the Palestinian people, causing increased poverty and hardships, and most important of all, allowed anarchy and chaos to spread in Palestine.

Hamas, therefore, would do itself and the Palestinian people a huge favour if it swallows its pride, steps aside, and allows other capable and empowered Palestinians to take complete charge of the governing institutions, or alternatively, accept the people's call to hand the mandate back, and accept new legislative and presidential elections.

Walid M Awad is the foreign press spokesperson for the Central Media Commission in Ramallah.Arab News