patrick martin
GAZA CITY— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday,
Feb. 22, 2012 9:39PM EST
Last updated Thursday,
Feb. 23, 2012 5:11AM EST

Just a few days after many called their political leader Khaled Meshaal a “dictator,” members of Hamas are putting on a united front, endorsing a transitional Palestinian unity government with their hated rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as prime minister.

It is a major victory for Mr. Meshaal, who among other things is severing the movement’s ties with Iran and adopting a more moderate position – all of which presents a serious challenge to Israel and raises the stakes in any future peace
process.

No longer will Mr. Abbas be speaking only on behalf of the West Bank or his own Fatah faction. He will speak for all Palestinians. And Israel, which insists it will have nothing to do with any government that includes Hamas members, may refuse to negotiate with Mr. Abbas.

Indeed, it’s quite possible Israel will quash any attempt at a Palestinian election if Hamas has a chance to win it.

Forming a unity government is a big step for both Hamas, which governs Gaza, and Fatah, the political movement that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. And members in both factions have strong reservations about the deal, especially members of Hamas.

The recent dispute – some describe it as a revolt – arose when Mr. Meshaal met in Doha earlier this month with Mr. Abbas and the Emir of Qatar. To everyone’s surprise, the Hamas leader signed a declaration that his movement would agree to the appointment of Mr. Abbas as prime minister.

Leading members of Hamas complained that the decision was taken without consultation and that it flew in the face of an
agreement signed last May in Cairo that stipulated that no one from either Hamas or Fatah would be members of the unity government.

Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas figure in Gaza, was the most outspoken. He called Mr. Abbas “an idiot” and “a failure” and said that Mr. Meshaal “should apologize” for agreeing to Mr. Abbas’s appointment.

He didn’t stop there. Dr. Zahar, a surgeon, complained that Mr. Meshaal also recently supported the idea of a Palestinian state being based on the borders that existed in 1967 – that is, the West bank and Gaza – something completely contrary to established Hamas positions that call for liberating all of Palestine including Israel, and supported the notion of popular resistance (meaning non-violent resistance) instead of Hamas’s armed resistance.

“This is not a political party,” Dr. Zahar said. “It is a religious and resistance movement.” Indeed, Dr. Zahar has always seen resistance against the Israeli occupation as more important than governing the Palestinian territories.

So silencing Mr. Zahar and his many supporters is a significant victory for Mr. Meshaal.

Adnan abu Amer, a professor of history at al Ummah University in Gaza, attributes Mr. Meshaal’s victory to his unique access to money from international donors and to support from the leader of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigade, in Gaza.

“While most of the members in Gaza opposed what Mr. Meshaal was doing,” Mr. abu Amer said, “the support of 30,000 fighters means no one can stand up to him.”

As well, Mr. abu Amer said, “the majority of Hamas members in the West Bank support Mr. Meshaal,” a fellow West Banker who hails from a village outside Ramallah.

Though silenced for the time being, Dr. Zahar’s grievances against his leader and especially against Mr. Abbas remain, like a ticking bomb waiting to go off.

Indeed, many people in Gaza don’t share Mr. Meshaal’s view of the world. He is not a refugee as are most Gazans in Hamas, and has not suffered the kind of indignities that come with the blockade and attacks on Gaza.

However, said Mr. abu Amer, “as an outsider he has a clearer view of the big picture and can be more pragmatic.”

“He saw the need to act to save Hamas,” he said. “The Arab Spring was good or many Arabs, but its big loser was Iran,” said Mr. Amer. “And along with Iran, came Hamas, another loser.”

“Meshaal realized he had to support the other Muslim Brothers throughout the region,” he explained, “and that meant pulling out of Syria, something Iran tried to stop.”

Unitedly Palestinian leaders can hope to direct their attention to
Israeli violations which have destroyed hopes for a two-state solution


By Osama Al Sharif, Special to Gulf News

Qatari Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khalid Mesha’al at the signing ceremony in Doha on Monday.

Good news associated with the Palestinians is very hard to come by these days, but February 6 was an exception. A Qatari initiative succeeded in bringing together two bitter rivals in Doha; Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and head of Hamas' political bureau Khalid Mesha'al. The Doha Declaration represented the biggest leap forward on the road to securing Palestinian reconciliation.

Under the agreement Abbas will head an interim unity government that will oversee legislative and presidential elections. The agreement stipulates that work will intensify to overhaul the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which Hamas will join, leading to a new Palestine National Council (PNC), the highest Palestinian body representing all Palestinians. 

Also the two sides agreed to workthrough committees to end issues relating to detainees, Gaza reconstruction, restructuring of Palestinian institutions and others. The next time both sides will meet it will be in Cairo on February 18 during which the new government will be announced.

Efforts to end the Palestinian rift and bring about reconciliation have been on and off since 2006, when Fatah and PNA officials were chased out of Gaza. All previous attempts have ended in failure because the two sides never trusted each other. But that is not the only reason.

US and Israeli pressure on Abbas not to go ahead with reconciliation initiatives has prevented a successful conclusion of
negotiations. Hamas too was careful not to antagonise its allies in Damascus and Tehran. Palestinian reconciliation was tossed around like a regional football but this time there are encouraging signs that both sides have a vested interest
in pulling it through.

Game changer

The Arab Spring has toppled a key regional player, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who had special ties with both
the PNA and Hamas. But few believed that he conducted the role of intermediary as an honest broker. His regime helped impose a siege on the Gaza Strip, often denying the passage of humanitarian aid to Gazans who were trying to recover from a vicious onslaught by Israel in 2009. A number of Hamas leaders were arrested or harassed as they crossed into Egypt.

With Mubarak out of the way, Hamas' relations with Egypt witnessed a dramatic change. Its leaders are now able to use the Rafah border at anytime while Cairo's new military leaders have kept it open for humanitarian uses. Moreover, Abbas has been
greatly disappointed by the Obama administration which has failed to convince Israel to restart the negotiations and halt colony activities. 

For Hamas, whose leaders have been hosted by the Damascus regime for years, the Syrian uprising has been a game changer. Mesha'al has refused to throw his support behind the Bashar Al Assad regime and as a result has been quietly disassociating himself from Damascus. The movement's leadership has been looking for new homes in Doha, Amman and Gaza.

Furthermore, Mesha'al has expressed admiration for the Arab Spring believing that non-violent popular uprisings are the way forward in the Occupied Territories. He has been distancing himself from Tehran and hoping to gain recognition in Europe and
elsewhere. Hamas does not recognise Israel but it has accepted a deal in which an independent Palestinian state is recognised within the pre-1967 war borders.

In addition to that Hamas has been thrilled by the success of fellow Sunni Islamist movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. US willingness to open dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an ideological relative, has given hope to Mesha'al that the time could come when his movement could be recognised as a major player in the Palestinian issue.

Hamas' way to reach such goals will have to start with Palestinian reconciliation. Abbas is hoping to strengthen his hand in any future negotiations although his new rapport with Hamas has been criticised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said that the Palestinian leader has chosen to abandon the path of peace. 
 
Interestingly, the initial US reaction to the Doha Declaration was less critical. Washington described the deal as an internal Palestinian issue. But Abbas knows that many pro-Israel Congressmen will use the new deal as a pretext to deny PNA much needed funds. It is here that the Palestinians would need all the Arab and European help they could get.

The road to the February 18 deadline is difficult. Abbas will come under US and Israeli pressure to abandon the deal. Hamas too will have to recognise that its iron-fist rule of Gaza must come to an end if free and open elections will come next. For the time being the Palestinian people have a good reason to be joyful. The rift has cost them many opportunities and allowed Israel to pursue plans to colonise Palestinian land. 
 
If the reconciliation is successful and a new era begins the Palestinians can hope to direct their attention to Israeli violations which have destroyed hopes for a two-state solution.

Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in
Amman.