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Hamas in power and how to deal with itCommentary by Bertus
Hendriks 17-02-2006
Saturday's first session of the newly elected Palestinian parliament mark the transfer of power from Fatah - the backbone of the Palestinian Authority to date - to Hamas, the winner of those elections. Hamas wants the head of its list, Ismail Haniya, to form the next government. Israel, in the meantime, has postponed the kind of measures it will take to isolate a PA led by Hamas. According to Israeli press accounts, the government of acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering a whole range of steps. Among them is blocking the transfer of taxes and custom duties levied on behalf of the PA, which account for a third of the PA's budget. Blocking movement of Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza, and forbidding Palestinians to work in Israel are also possible sanctions. Construction plans for a new Gaza harbour and airport would be shelved indefinitely. Humanitarian aid through other channels like the UNWRA refugee agency would not be touched and Israel would also refrain from cutting water and electricity for which the Palestinians depend on the Israeli network. Three conditions More steps will follow if Hamas does not accept the three Israeli conditions: give up violence, recognise Israel's right to exist and accept all previous agreements concluded between Israel and the Palestinians. Hamas candidate for Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has immediately criticised the plans, saying it's "part of a policy of repression, terrorism and collective punishment against our people". Hamas, though, is hardly in a position to criticise Israel for terrorism, given its own wave of suicide attacks in the past, but it is difficult to deny that the Israeli steps amount to a form of collective punishment and will be seen like that across the entire Palestinian political spectrum. If a Hamas government were to be starved of funds, it would be unable to pay the salaries of the 135,000-odd government employees, salaries on which, on average, six dependents rely. A little under one million Palestinians would then face immediate and dire economic difficulties. Rather than weakening Hamas, such a move is likely to backfire and strengthen it. Dilemma This is not to underestimate what is admittedly a serious dilemma, both for Israel and for the international community. No country can passively accept a neighbour that is bent on destroying you, even if that neighbour has been elected in the most democratic way. But then, is that still the policy of Hamas? Defining Hamas as merely a terrorist organisation, and the Palestinian territories from now on as a terrorist state, as Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has done, is a dangerous simplification of a far more complex reality. Hamas is first and foremost a national religious resistance movement to Israeli occupation, a movement that has resorted to terrorist means, which include those revolting suicide attacks. But it is not a Jihadi movement like Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Still, it is also true that the Hamas Charter calls for the dismantling of the State of Israel, but then that was also the case for the PLO Charter prior to the Oslo peace agreements. Hamas is not yet ready to abolish its charter, but says it recognises certain political realities as a fact. And these days, Hamas leaders are multiplying statements that they are willing to engage in negotiations for a long term "hudna", or ceasefire, if Israel is willing to withdraw to the 1967 border, including East Jerusalem. Pragmatism Also, the candidates that Hamas put forward for Prime Minister (Ismail Haniya) and for parliamentary speaker (Abdel Aziz Dweik) are both seen as pragmatists. The more radical leader of the Hamas faction in parliament, Mahmoud al-Zahar, also endorses that approach. Double talk by Hamas? Possibly, but it seems more promising to take them by their word and to explore how far Hamas can be pushed further on the road to a de facto two-state solution than punish the entire Palestinian people for their "wrong" choice. Even more importantly, the majority of the Palestinian people still want a two-state solution, which will be the strongest pressure upon Hamas to moderate its views. See also articles: Hamas makes strong showing in vote The Hamas Covenant NatWest Hamas Interpal Hamas, the PA and money Hamas Aid threat to Hamas Election victors US to 'review' all aid to Palestine |
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