[wvns] Ahmed Yousef: What Hamas Wants
The author, Ahmed Yousef, serves as senior political adviser to the
popularly elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
What Hamas Wants
By AHMED YOUSEF
June 20, 2007
Gaza City
THE events in Gaza over the last few days have been described in the
West as a coup. In essence, they have been the opposite. Eighteen
months ago, our Hamas Party won the Palestinian parliamentary
elections and entered office under Prime Minister Ismail Haniya but
never received the handover of real power from Fatah, the losing
party. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has now tried to
replace the winning Hamas government with one of his own, returning
Fatah to power while many of our elected members of Parliament
languish in Israeli jails. That is the real coup.
From the day Hamas won the general elections in 2006 it offered Fatah
the chance of joining forces and forming a unity government. It tried
to engage the international community to explain its platform for
peace. It has consistently offered a 10-year cease-fire with the
Israelis to try to create an atmosphere of calm in which we resolve
our differences. Hamas even adhered to a unilateral cease-fire for 18
months in an effort to normalize the situation on the ground. None of
these points appear to have been recognized in the press coverage of
the last few days.
Nor has it been evident to many people in the West that the civil
unrest in Gaza and the West Bank has been precipitated by the American
and Israeli policy of arming elements of the Fatah opposition who want
to attack Hamas and force us from office. For 18 months we have tried
to find ways to coexist with Fatah, entering into a unity government,
even conceding key positions in the cabinet to their and international
demands, negotiating up until the last moment to try to provide
security for all of our people on the streets of Gaza.
Sadly, it became apparent that not all officials from Fatah were
negotiating in good faith. There were attempts on Mr. Haniya's life
last week, and eventually we were forced into trying to take control
of a very dangerous situation in order to provide political stability
and establish law and order.
The streets of Gaza are now calm for the first time in a very long
time. We have begun disarming some of the drug dealers and the armed
gangs and we hope to restore a sense of security and safety to the
citizens of Gaza. We want to get children back to school, get basic
services functioning again, and provide long-term economic gains for
our people.
Our stated aim when we won the election was to effect reform, end
corruption and bring economic prosperity to our people. Our sole focus
is Palestinian rights and good governance. We now hope to create a
climate of peace and tranquillity within our community that will pave
the way for an end to internal strife and bring about the release of
the British journalist Alan Johnston, whose kidnapping in March by
non-Hamas members is a stain on the reputation of the Palestinian people.
We reject attempts to divide Palestine into two parts and to pass
Hamas off as an extreme and dangerous force. We continue to believe
that there is still a chance to establish a long-term truce. But this
will not happen unless the international community fully engages with
Hamas.
Any further attempts to marginalize us, starve our people into
submission or attack us militarily will prove that the United States
and Israeli governments are not genuinely interested in seeing an end
to the violence. Dispassionate observers over the next few weeks will
be able to make up their own minds as to each side's true intentions.
===
In search of justice in the Middle East
'3-state solution' is no path to peace
By Ali Abunimah
June 21, 2007
Chicago Tribune
The U.S. decision to back Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas in the recent turmoil virtually guarantees an escalation in
violence. Abbas has installed an unelected "emergency" government to
replace the democratically elected Hamas-led national unity government.
Some have portrayed Hamas' takeover of Palestinian Authority security
compounds in Gaza as a "coup." But many Palestinians do not view it
that way. In January 2006, Hamas decisively won legislative elections,
giving it the right to form an administration. The U.S., despite its
rhetorical support for democracy, decided to crush Hamas rule,
imposing sanctions that have harmed ordinary Palestinians in the hope
that Hamas would be forced out.
When it won the elections, Hamas had already observed a one-year
unilateral truce with Israel, and had suspended the suicide bombings
against Israeli civilians that had made it notorious. It tried to
enter mainstream politics through the front door, to play by the
rules, but was undermined at every step. The bitter conclusion for
many Palestinians is that the U.S. is not interested in supporting
real democracy, and will intervene relentlessly to overthrow leaders
it does not support, regardless of the will of the Palestinian people.
The militias that Hamas took on and defeated in recent weeks were
particularly hated in Gaza because they had abducted, tortured and
killed many Hamas members and were widely seen as thoroughly corrupt.
It so happens that these militias received arms and funding from the
United States and had vowed to take on and defeat Hamas, overturning
the result of the election.
We have seen this strategy before. Does anyone remember the Nicaraguan
contras? Despite the power-sharing deal Fatah and Hamas signed in
Mecca last February, key Fatah leaders refused to place their militias
under the control of an independent interior minister. He resigned in
frustration, and the U.S. continued to funnel in weapons.
Following its dramatic rout of Fatah positions, Hamas leaders gave
televised speeches emphasizing that they were not at war with Fatah's
rank and file (many of whom did not even fight) and did not want to
seize power or overthrow Abbas, whose legitimacy they explicitly
reaffirmed. Their problem, they said, was only with the U.S.-supported
militia leaders, such as Mohammed Dahlan and Rashid Abu Shbak, who had
made the job of the elected Hamas-led government impossible. As a
goodwill gesture, Hamas leaders issued a general amnesty for all
captured Fatah commanders and appealed for dialogue, reconciliation
and reconstructing a national unity government.
Abbas rejected these appeals and has opted to form an unelected
government and rule by decree even though Palestinian law denies him
that authority. This government will have little real power and will
be considered illegitimate by a significant part of the Palestinian
public.
After more than a year of sanctions against the Palestinian people,
Hamas is stronger and more popular than ever. Throwing more U.S.
support behind Abbas and his unelected Cabinet will not reverse this
trend.
There has been much talk that the events in Gaza herald the birth of a
"three-state solution" -- Israel, plus a Hamas stronghold in Gaza and
a Fatah-led West Bank. In reality, the West Bank and Gaza had already
long been isolated from each other by Israeli policy. Ultimately,
neither Hamas nor Fatah controls the fate of Palestinians; they remain
under crushing Israeli military rule.
Some Israelis assert that intra-Palestinian fighting proves that
Palestinians are incapable of democracy. They hope that all the heat
will be off Israel as it entrenches Bantustan-like separation and
discrimination against non-Jews under its rule.
The reality remains that 11 million souls -- half Palestinians and
half Israelis -- inhabit a small country. Closing off Gaza and
allowing it to descend into further misery, and propping up a
Fatah-led Palestinian Authority that has lost legitimacy, while Israel
continues to build Jewish-only settlements across the West Bank, is
not the path to peace.
Intra-Palestinian dialogue without outside interference, and South
Africa or Northern Ireland-style peace talks aimed at ending all forms
of military occupation, inequality and discrimination, with strong
outside support, may yet save the situation. But so far there are no
signs that the Bush administration will heed these obvious rudiments
of peace.
The author is a Palestinian-American and the author of "One Country: A
Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict."
===
Hello From Rafah
From: "Yasmine Moor" <yasminemoor @ gmail.com>
Date: Tue, June 19, 2007
Dear all,
I hope this email again finds you all well. Things have calmed down
tremendously in the last several days since Hamas's "victory." For the
first time since I got here 18 days ago, I was able to be out after
dark and feel relatively safe. There wasn't any gun fire or people
with AK 47s roaming the streets. This mainly because Fatah and Hamas
are no longer shooting at each other and because folks in Gaza will
tell you, Hamas is and will restore law and order.
Hamas has started going from house to house searching and collecting
weapons in Gaza city and Khan Younis since Saturday and will continue
to all of Gaza's camps. On Friday there were two rallies cheering
Hamas's victory, and from talking to those in the rally, they are
supporting Hamas because Hamas is cleaning up "Fatah's thieves" who
collaborated with Israel and the US, but also because people feel
safer now than they have for months. One man sitting next to me in the
taxi yesterday said for the first time in months he isn't worried that
his neighbor or cousin may shoot him over a minor feud or getting his
car stolen or his daughters kidnapped. He feels safe.
Those supporting Fatah say this victory will not last and like the
international media, refer to the recent events, as a "coup." And
they'll say, "once Gazans taste starvation they'll be begging for
Dahlan to come back." I'm not so sure about that. It feels Gazans can
withstand any sort of collective punishment that Israel and the US has
in store for them.
I'd like to comment briefly about the usage of the word "coup," only
because here in Gaza, only Fatah supporters called it a "coup by the
Islamic movement Hamas" as well as news sources who called me for
comments. I think people tend to forget that Hamas is not just an
Islamic movement, and whether not we agree with its Islamic agenda, it
is a political party as well, representative of those people who voted
for them. Additionally, they were democratically elected in an
election that was enforced by democratic countries all over the world,
and it is the failure of the international community to recognize the
choice of the people that has placed Gaza in the situation that it is
currently in, not the "coup." And as s result, the people of Gaza will
suffer the consequences and endure a collective punishment of an
economic embargo.
People are frantic, but I don't think they're scared; worried about
the future, but not submitting to Israel or the US. People are
certainly preparing for the worst. Those who can afford to are
stocking up on flour and sugar, especially now that UNRWA has resumed
its full duties since the fighting started. I found it hard to move
around because the markets have been crowded with people as they
prepare for a food and water shortages.
Gaza's borders with Egypt and Israel have closed (the Rafah border has
been closed for the past two weeks, Karni and Kerem Shalom closed last
week). I also learned Israel cut off the gas and when I confirmed it
with my aunt she said we have only a couple days of gas left. Egypt in
alliance with the US and Israel is putting pressure on Hamas and
therefore cutting off the electricity during the night (Rafah and Khan
Younis gets its electricity from Egypt), which means we get a few
hours of water a day because the electricity has to be strong enough
to pump the water from the ground and since most houses are several
floors up, water cant always reach....including ours.
Those who cannot afford to stock up worry about how they can feed
their families, which is exactly where Israel and the US want us to
be. No salaries, no money, no open borders, literally a prison where
we live on little food and water and don't have time to plan or
organize on how to get ourselves out of this situation. Starvation is
the best strategy, but no one in Gaza will starve to death. Israel
will cut off gas for a few days, then give us a little; cut off
international food aid then allow a few trucks of flour and sugar in.
Israel knows how many people are in Gaza and how much to allow in
order to to give people a taste of hungry and despair, but not
starvation.
And the international community is pushing for the two states, a Hamas
Gaza and a Fatah West Bank and continue to speak of how different the
two are and continue rallying around the US funded Fatah. So while
Gaza is preparing for a humanitarian crisis, the US and Israel plan on
how to further separate Palestinians in the the west bank and Gaza
from each other so that we may not unify and we may forget about the
occupation, and our right of return.
Myself, I'm doing very well and still very glad to be here.
Yasmine
972 599 063556
===
Carter Blasts US Policy on Palestinians
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
The Wistom Fund
http://www.twf.org/News/Y2007/0618-Abbas.html
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter accused the U.S.,
Israel and the European Union on Tuesday of seeking to divide the
Palestinian people by reopening aid to President Mahmoud Abbas' new
government in the West Bank while denying the same to the Hamas-controlled
Gaza Strip.
Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was addressing a human rights
conference in Ireland, also said the Bush administration's refusal to
accept Hamas' 2006 election victory was "criminal."
Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that
should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven
itself to be far more organized in its political and military
showdowns with Abbas' moderate Fatah movement.
Hamas fighters routed Fatah in their violent takeover of the Gaza
Strip last week. The split prompted Abbas to dissolve the power-
sharing government with his rivals in Hamas and set up a Fatah-led
administration to govern the West Bank.
Carter said the consensus of the U.S., Israel and the EU to start
funneling aid to Abbas' new government in the West Bank but continue
blocking Hamas in the Gaza Strip represented an "effort to divide
Palestinians into two peoples."
"All efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the
two, but there's no effort from the outside to bring the two
together," he said.
The U.S. and European countries cut off the Hamas-led government last
year because of the Islamic militant group's refusal to renounce
violence and recognize Israel. They have continued to send
humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other
organizations.
In the latest crisis, the U.S., Israel and much of the West have been
trying to shore up Abbas in hopes that the West Bank can be made into
a democratic example that would bring along Gaza.
During his speech to Ireland's annual Forum on Human Rights, the 83-
year-old former president said monitors from his Carter Center
observed the 2006 election that Hamas won. He said the vote was
"orderly and fair" and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was
"shrewd in selecting candidates," whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran
multiple candidates for single seats.
Far from encouraging Hamas' move into parliamentary politics, Carter
said the U.S. and Israel, with European Union acquiescence, sought to
subvert the outcome by shunning Hamas and helping Abbas to keep the
reins of political and military power.
"That action was criminal," he said in a news conference after his speech.
"The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in
Palestine and did everything they could to deter a compromise between
Hamas and Fatah," he said.
Carter said the U.S. and others supplied the Fatah-controlled security
forces in Gaza with vastly superior weaponry in hopes they would
"conquer Hamas in Gaza"&lsqauo;but Hamas routed Fatah in the fighting last
week because of its "superior skills and discipline."
*********************************************************************
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