Palestine-Mandate

One of the striking things about the present Palestinian situation is the strong emotions caused by the Hamas-Fatah rift. The stalwarts of each group are more angry with each other than they are with the Israelis.

If anything, an informal poll run by this author suggests that Fatah loyalists are more impassioned. Let Gaza be submerged by a tsunami, they say — and more. This is disturbingly short-sighted.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah leader now based in the West Bank capital city of Ramallah, also seems obsessed with punishing Hamas and putting it in its place. Late last week, he signed a money-laundering decree which he indicated would target Hamas. At the same moment, the Israeli Defense Minister was putting into place the final arrangments for tightening the isolation and siege of Hamas-run Gaza, supposedly in retaliation for Qassam rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. [note: could Abbas not also have signed a Presidential decree banning the Qassam and mortar attacks?]

Hamas says it acknowledges Abbas as President of the Palestinian Authority, and has called for talks with Ramallah. But Abbas clenches his teeth and refuses. No, not until they apologize, he says, for their miltary rout of Fatah in Gaza in mid-June. Not until Hamas reverses the effects of its acts, Abbas insists.

Hamas leaders seem particularly incensed by the lack of respect afforded them by Abbas. He did not respect the results of the Palestinian elections in which they took the majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, they say. Abbas, they believe, did not respect the Hamas ministers appointed to two governments that followed those elections — one government formed in the spring of 2006, and a “National Unity” government formed after Saudi Mediation in Mecca in the spring of 2007.

Hamas leaders do not say so much (though the rank and file do), but they believe, that Abbas is working in tandem with Israel and the U.S. Administration to marginalize and punish them. There is evidence to think so.

What Hamas really wants to resolve this crisis, apparently, is a proportion of seats in the Palestine Liberation Organization’s National Council (PNC), identical to the proportion of seats they won in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

(more…)