Ayoon wa Azan (My Fellow Americans)

Jihad Al Khazen     Al-Hayat     2003/07/9

Can a man of peace such as Mahmoud Abbas get a war criminal such as Ariel Sharon to do something that serves peace? I hope he will today, and that he will achieve palpable and serious results knowing that the truce, which the Islamic resistance announced, is coming to an end, even though it barely started.

Hamas accuses Sharon and his government of provoking it to break the truce, by pursuing its assassination operations and invasions, not to mention arresting followers of Hamas and Jihad and depriving these prisoners from their plan of releasing hostages and detainees. Hamas also believes that by allowing tourists and Jews to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque is a deliberate provocation, especially since Sharon knows he was the one to provoke the Al-Aqsa Intifada following his visit that soiled the temple.

Khaled Mishaal, head of Hamas' politburo, reminded me of what we had discussed about Hamas and Jihad having declared the suspension of military operations temporarily and conditionally. Other groups joined it for pure Palestinian reasons and also to prevent the Zionists' attempts to destroy the internal Palestinian situation. He added: "We are still capable of resuming the resistance and are ready for it, and all those who say the opposite are wrong, as the resistance will always exist and the battlefield will determine who is the stronger party… the resistance will go on, and nothing will stop it except the end of the occupation."

I had also spoken with Ramadan Shallah, leader of Islamic Jihad a couple of days ago, and I called Khaled Mishaal yesterday to get more information regarding the current situation. He was not angry; he spoke clearly and deeply, so I would rather present to the reader his own interpretation of the situation than mine:

* Away from optimism or pessimism, the reality shows that the enemy is still aggressive, and does not recognize the Palestinian right. The enemy accepted the Roadmap under American pressures as a maneuver, and is trying to deprive us from our achievements in the Intifada, as to keep the land and the security for his people.

* We accepted truce as a Palestinian unity, and did not allow any violations to show the world that the other camp is the one making mistakes and that they should be blamed and pressured.

* Abbas has a certain philosophy, a certain vision, and we do not agree with him, as he believes that his course will lead him somewhere, whereas we think it will lead nowhere; it will be just another failure… today, the Palestinian situation is suffering the repercussions of Oslo, which allowed the enemy all this aggression.

* We advise Abbas to rely on our national unity and great power, even though they do not match with the enemy's. Sharon was not able to kill the Intifada for 33 months after it started, and he will not be able to do so now.

* We hope Abbas does not think the truce and postponement of the military operations is proof that the resistance is convinced in the Roadmap. All we aim at is to protect the Intifada program and prevent a clash within the front. Sharon is dealing with the Roadmap as an act of courtesy or hypocrisy towards the Americans, whereas he actually is against it, and all he wants is to implement the first stage as to serve Israel's goals for security purposes, without however dealing with Palestinian demands such as the hostages, the territories, the elections, Jerusalem, the right of return, the settlements, etc. the situation does not look good at all.

* I shall not go through the past of brother Mohammed Dahlan or of our experiences with him. But I shall say that any participation in the security program is an American and Israeli trap to protect Israel's security. Hence, coordinating with him to end the resistance and disarm it will open endless doors… our people has tasted the bitter sensation of Oslo and tried the Intifada and its accomplishments, so they will be the judge of the situation and will not accept to have combatants arrested or arms collected. Those who confront them will lose.

I shall stop here to say that I feel the truce will collapse if Abbas does not manage today to get compromises that are actually rights he ought to offer to his people, including the resistance. Although he agreed with Hamas and Jihad that Sharon has nothing but pure evil intentions and is willing to destroy the Palestinians along with the Intifada, I do hope that the brothers will prevent him from doing so and give Abbas time to keep up his efforts. They honestly say they can resume the resistance, even without declaring it, and that they have never surrendered to failure.

I know that American leaders read the translation of Al-Hayat articles, including this column, and I usually hear nothing but complaints from them on my writing. I hope they realize today the way I perceive the situation of the Islamic resistance and they try to obviate it with the Israeli government of war criminals, as it tries everyday to ruin the truce. If Americans want peace and security in order to establish a free Palestine alongside with Israel, then they should remove all the obstacles set by Sharon to hinder the course of actions and prevent peace.