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Finding
Lessons in Gaza's Bloodshed |
Posted By Ramzy Baroud
The Hamas-Fatah clash that has
culminated into a mini-civil war in
recent weeks is both old and new, and
while some of its elements are
uniquely Palestinian, much of it was
manufactured at the behest of
US-Israeli intelligence and
governments.
The tensions between Fatah and Hamas
are decades old. Fatah has - since the
late 1960s until today - claimed a
superior, if not exclusive, position
at the helm of Palestinian politics.
At times there seemed little margin
for any other organization - be it
secular, socialist or religious - to
share a platform with Yasser Arafat's
movement.
Throughout the years, Fatah ensured
the relevance of Palestinians to their
own struggle. It's important,
therefore, that Fatah is not seen as
one monolithic body. Fatah security
chief Mohammed Dahlan and the likes
have tainted the reputation of Fatah
forever, but the movement and its
decades-long struggle must not be
reduced to these individuals. With
Fatah through its hegemony within the
Palestine Liberation Organization
being the "sole legitimate
representative of the Palestinian
people" for so many years, Hamas'
rise was never accepted as part of the
fold.
The second Palestinian uprising of
2000 can be seen as a revolt against
Israel and its occupation, but also
against those who did its bidding
among Palestinians - the shameful
legion of Palestinians whose wealth
grew to unprecedented levels as the
great majority were steeped further in
poverty.
Such shamelessness fostered support
for Hamas among ordinary Palestinians,
and in January 2006, Hamas swept the
polls, to its own surprise and the
surprise of many. The elites and
wealthy few had espoused a society
that was governed by brutality,
nepotism and favoritism and was
unabashedly managed with the help of
Israel. Hamas was the only serious
alternative: its anti-corruption
record and the tough fight it
displayed against Israel made it
deserving of the responsibility from
the ordinary Palestinian's point of
view.
Though Palestinians were ready to give
Hamas a chance, the US government,
Israel, various Arab regimes and Fatah
were not. The latest weeks in Gaza,
the tragedy of killings and brutality
there, all attest to the lengths the
US and Israel are willing to take to
keep Hamas at bay.
What took place in Gaza was tragic,
but the question remains. Considering
the circumstances at the time, did
Hamas and Fatah have other options
that could have allowed them to
achieve their objectives peacefully?
I think there was enough determination
on both sides to prevent a civil war
at any cost, thus the agreement in
Mecca. However, US officials entrusted
with ensuring the failure and collapse
of the unity government and the utter
corruption among Fatah's self-serving
security circles made good intentions
simply extraneous.
The violence was heartbreaking,
especially when one read the details:
people getting thrown from the top of
high buildings and summary executions.
Palestinians were caught in many
violent episodes in the past, but this
one is most tragic, for it took place
under the watchful eye of Israel,
which mercilessly continued to kill
Palestinians, young and old at the
same time that Palestinians were
killing one another.
Now that the tragedy has occurred, one
can only hope that common sense and
sanity will return and for
Palestinians to rediscover, once more,
that they are still an occupied nation
that has no meaningful political
sovereignty.
Unfortunately, the US government and
Israel remain most relevant in
determining the course of action in
Palestine, and naturally, they
continue to infuse much harm. Israel
is now scheduled to hand back the
money it stole from the Palestinians
in the form of taxes collected on
their behalf to Mahmoud Abbas in the
West Bank, while declaring it intends
to tighten the siege on the already
besieged and utterly poor Gaza.
Even personal money transfers, Western
Union and the like, will be halted to
ensure the total suffocation of Gaza.
The US will pumping tens of millions
of dollars into hand Abbas' hands, and
Fatah's warlords - rampaging against
Hamas institutions in the West Bank -
will also receive more than their fair
share of money and weapons. It is
quite simple to understand the
underlying intents of this generosity
after a year and a half of embargo, or
to picture the horrible scenario that
will result from an empowered, corrupt
and vengeful regime.
Israel is committing itself to ensure
that the friction among Palestinians
will destroy their national project in
the West Bank as well. Fatah will now
be allowed to do what Israel has
failed to do over six decades of
occupation.
Despite the painful nature of this
conflict, one can only hope that some
valuable lessons can be gleaned from
all of this, not just by Palestinians
alone, but by others who endure along
with them the meddling of superpowers
and whose democracy is a constant
target.
First, Gaza has exposed, like no other
experience in modern history, the
hypocrisy of the US government's
democracy charade; if it was true
democracy that the United States was
seeking, it would have acknowledged
the Palestinian people's collective
will and fostered dialogue with their
representatives, as opposed to
starvation and blockade and covert
operations to topple the government.
Second, corruption, although
temporarily rewarding, is never
lasting, and the people, although
forgiving and patient at times, have
the ability to withstand pressure, to
prevail and force change, even if
violently.
Third, proxy politics is most harmful,
in Palestine and elsewhere.
Palestinian leaders must learn that
selling one's political will to
foreign polities for the sake of
money, power or political
substantiation is unforgivable in the
eyes of ordinary Palestinians. After
all, it's those "ordinary"
people who have stood up and
confronted the awesome powers of
Israel, the US and the corruption and
brutality of some of their own for
many decades. They will continue to do
so no matter how high the price may
be. Freedom for Palestinians is more
precious than bread, no matter how
irrational this may sound.
Gaza might have descended into chaos
for a few weeks or months, but so also
has the US agenda championed by the
remnants of the neo-conservative
clique in the administration of
President George W Bush, which
stubbornly fails to operate outside
the parameters of the doctrine of
violence, secrecy, conspiracies and
military coups.
They refuse to knowledge that it is
not weapons that Palestinians want. It
is simply freedom.
* A Palestinian-American author and
editor of PalestineChronicle.com; his
latest book is The Second Palestinian
Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's
Struggle (Pluto Press, London).
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