http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=76957&d=28&m=1&y=2006
Saturday, 28, January, 2006 (28, Dhul Hijjah, 1426)
No Talks With Hamas? This Was Said About PLO Too
Uri Avnery, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
If Ariel Sharon had not been in a deep coma, he would have jumped out of
his bed for joy.
The Hamas victory fulfills his most ardent hopes.
For a whole year now, he did everything possible to undermine Mahmoud
Abbas. His logic was quite obvious: The Americans wanted him to negotiate with
Abbas. Such negotiations would inevitably have led to a situation that would
have compelled him to give up almost all of the West Bank. Sharon had no
intention of doing so. He wanted to annex about half of the territory. So he
had to get rid of Abbas and his moderate image.
During the last year, the situation of the Palestinians got worse from
day to day. The actions of the occupation made normal life and commerce
impossible. The West Bank settlements were continuously enlarging. The Wall
which cuts off about 10 percent of the West Bank was nearing completion. No
important prisoners were released. The aim was to impress on the Palestinians
that Abbas is weak ("a chicken without feathers", as Sharon put it), that he
cannot achieve anything, that offering peace and observing a cease-fire leads
nowhere.
The message to the Palestinians was clear: "Israel understands only the
language of force." Now the Palestinians have put in power a party that speaks
this language.
Why did Hamas win?
Palestinian elections, like German ones, consist of two parts. Half the
members of Parliament are elected on straight party lists (like in Israel), the
other half are elected individually in their districts. This gave Hamas a huge
advantage.
But as far as the general political line is concerned, the majority is
not far from Fatah - two states, peace with Israel.
Many of the votes given to Hamas had nothing to do with peace, religion
and fundamentalism, but with protest. The Palestinian administration, run
almost exclusively by Fatah, is tainted with corruption. The "man in the
street" felt that the people on top don't care about him. Fatah was also blamed
for the terrible situation created by the occupation.
Also, the glory of the martyrs and the indomitable fight against the
immensely superior Israeli Army added to the popularity of Hamas.
In the personal-regional elections, the situation of Hamas was even
better. Hamas had more creditable candidates, untainted by corruption. Its
party machine was far superior, its members far more disciplined. In every
district, there were several Fatah candidates competing with each other. After
the death of Yasser Arafat, there is no strong leader capable of imposing
unity. Marwan Barghouti, who could perhaps have done the job, is held in an
Israeli prison - another big Israeli gift for Hamas.
People who believe in conspiracy theories can assert that it is all part
of a devious Israeli plan.
Some people even believe that Hamas was an Israeli invention right from
the beginning. That is, of course, a wild exaggeration. But it is indeed the
case that in the years before the first intifada, the Islamic organization was
the only Palestinian group that had practically a free run in the occupied
territories.
Moreover, while all political institutions were banned, and even
Palestinians who worked for peace were arrested for carrying out illegal
political activity, no one could control what was happening in the mosques. "As
long as they are praying, they are not shooting," was the innocent opinion in
the Israeli military government.
When the first intifada broke out at the end of 1987, this was proved
wrong. Hamas was formed, partly in order to compete with the Islamic Jihad
fighters. Within a short time, Hamas became the core of the armed uprising. But
for almost a year, the Israeli Security Service did not act against them. Then
policy changed and Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader, was arrested. All
this happened more through stupidity than design. Now the Israeli government is
faced with a Hamas leadership that was democratically elected by the people.
What now? Well, a strong feeling of deja vu.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Israeli government declared that it would
never ever negotiate with the PLO. They are terrorists. They have a charter
that calls for the destruction of Israel. Arafat is a monster, a second Hitler.
So, never, never, never.
In the end, after much bloodshed, Israel and the PLO recognized each
other and the Oslo agreement was signed.
Now we are hearing the same tune again. Terrorists. Murderers. The Hamas
charter calls for the destruction of Israel. We shall never never never
negotiate with them.
All this is very welcome to Sharon's Kadima party, which openly calls for
the unilateral annexation of territory ("Fixing the borders of Israel
unilaterally"). It will help the Likud and the Labor party hawks whose mantra
is "We have no partner for peace", meaning - to hell with peace.
Gradually, the tone will change. Both sides, and the Americans, too, will
climb down from the tall tree. Hamas will state that it is ready for
negotiations and find some religious basis for this. The Israeli government
(probably headed by Ehud Olmert) will bow to reality and American pressure.
Europe will forget its ridiculous slogans.
In the end, everybody will agree that a peace, in which Hamas is a
partner, is better than a peace with Fatah alone.
Let's pray that not too much blood is spilled before that point is
reached.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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