Blessing in disguise for Hamas Israel's campaign against Hamas has not broken its resolve or turned the people of Gaza against it
Azzam Tamimi January 30, 2008 8:00 AM Comment is Free Guardian The opening of the Palestinian National Conference in Damascus could not have come at a better time. January 23 was the day when the people of Gaza could no longer tolerate the world's indifference and the inaction of their fellow Arabs next door. The women's march on the previous day, which ended with a confrontation at the gate separating Palestine from Egypt, seemed to have been the trigger. Hours later, under the cover of night, young Gazan men blew up the wall that had been contributing to the suffocation of 1.5 million people. Between sessions, delegates at the Damascus conference rushed to the lobby of their hotel to watch al-Jazeera's live coverage of the crossing into Egypt and back into Gaza of thousands of Palestinian men and women - an event unprecedented since Gaza was occupied by Israel in June 1967. The Damascus conference was originally supposed to be held in parallel with the Annapolis conference last autumn. However, the Syrians asked Hamas, the principal convener, to postpone it until Annapolis revealed itself to the world. The meeting turned into an opportunity to express solidarity with Gaza and reaffirm what Hamas and its allies describe as the fixed or unalterable principles: Palestine is from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, Israel is an illegitimate colonial entity and resistance is the only means of regaining Palestinian rights. A significant outcome of the conference was the endorsement of Hamas as leader of the Palestinian struggle. This is reminiscent of what happened in the late 1960s when, after the Karamah battle in the Jordan valley in August 1968, the Arafat-led Fatah movement rose to prominence, took over the leadership of the PLO and gained recognition from Palestinians and Arabs alike as the legitimate leader of the struggle against Israeli occupation. The cross-border breach has brought Hamas another significant victory. Israel's campaign against the movement has not broken its resolve and the US-led sanctions against Gaza have not, despite the suffering, turned the people against Hamas. Having shunned Hamas for months, both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are now keen to work with the movement to resolve the crisis. Egypt has invited Hamas and Fatah to Cairo for talks and Saudi Arabia invited Khalid Mish'al, Hamas's political bureau chief, to Riyadh where he has had talks with top officials. The primary concern for all parties now is restoring order to the borders between Egypt and Gaza. Hamas wants an end to the sanctions and believes the Arabs are capable for breaking the siege imposed by the world community should they will to do so. To achieve this, the movement is willing to negotiate a deal to manage the Rafah crossing in cooperation with the Egyptian authorities and the PNA presidency. However, the movement would never allow a return to the 2005 agreement between the PNA and Israel that accorded Israel, with European collaboration, final say on who and what comes in or out of Gaza. The Egyptians know well that if their borders with Gaza were breached once they could be breached many times more should the population of the strip continue to be subjected to sanctions and forced to act in this way. They know well too that Hamas is in charge and that nothing could be done without its involvement. They do, however, wish to see Mahmoud Abbas involved so as to bestow some form of "legitimacy" on what they do. The prerequisite would be for Abbas and Hamas to reconcile their differences - an eventuality that is so far vetoed by both Israel and the Bush administration who insist that Hamas must first acquiesce to the demands of the Quartet. Abbas has an extra condition; he insists that Hamas should restore things in Gaza the way they were before June 14, 2007. Hamas is unlikely to ever do that or to accept any of the three Quartet conditions although it would be willing, as declared repeatedly, to meet Abbas and his Fatah comrades without preconditions. The turmoil in the region could have been averted in January 2006 if - after Hamas won the elections - Israel and the US had acknowledged the new reality and agreed to deal with Hamas rather than its losing rival. Voices in Israel, especially those of retired generals and former politicians, can be heard from time to time advising the Israeli establishment to come to terms with reality and negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas. It seems unlikely that this will happen any time soon. If - and when - it happens Hamas would be willing to enter into a medium or long-term truce depending on what Israel is willing to give back to the Palestinians. In the meantime, whatever Israel resorts to in order to weaken Hamas is only likely to strengthen it further. This has been the trend since the summer of 1988 that saw the first major mass detention campaign against Hamas by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza.
