Ayoon wa Azan (Forced Marriage)

Jihad Al Khazen      Al-Hayat     2003/07/29

While the Palestinian government was born from a C-section three months ago, the truce it reached with the Islamic resistance factions was a forced marriage, and these kinds of marriages do not last.

Truce, or appeasement, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad call it, was meant to last three months. But after one month, no results have been reached to match with the cessation of military operations. Hence, every faction is starting to reconsider its stance, while negotiating with other groups.

I asked Khaled Mishaal, the head of Hamas politburo, about the situation, following the meeting that was held between President Bush and the Palestinian Prime Minister, and the eve of his meeting with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon. He said that Abbas should not have gone to Washington considering the Israeli violations of the truce, and that he (Abbas) had set his bets on Sharon's commitment to the appeasement and the fact that the U.S. administration would take a solid stance from the Israeli government as to proceed in the peace process; however, "both bets are losing" according to Mishaal. In fact he said, President Bush did not show Mahmoud Abbas any real or new stance in this regard, and the fact that he criticized the separation wall, maintaining that it is a problem hindering the establishment of trust between both parties is nothing but talk, and is not enough to stop the building of the wall on Palestinian territories, in a way to separate towns and farmers from their fields.

Mishaal continued to say that President Bush had fallen in the Iraqi swamp and the resistance to the occupation, not to mention the scandal of the intelligence services, the falsified information to justify the war and the collapse of the American economy; all this will push the U.S. President to avoid any confrontations with the Jewish lobby, and this is why he does not expect the meeting between Bush and Sharon to bring any positive results concerning the Palestinian demands.

I asked Mishaal if he thought there were other options, and he said that the only option is for the Palestinian government to hold on to its stance, as the meetings between Abbas and Sharon, as well as the constant security meetings that are not marking any change in the Israeli position, all aim at sending an Israeli message to Americans, saying that everything is normal, and that contacts are being established with the Palestinians according to the plan.

Hamas accuses Sharon of preplanned, and yet limited, violations, as to prevent ending truce. It also accuses him of making aesthetic and unimportant steps and announcing them to coincide with the Abbas-Bush meeting, which made the American President accept them without noticing the constant Israeli breaching, such as arrests, confiscation of territories, murder of civilians and attack of the Al-Haram Al-Sharif.

In fact, Sharon had declared his intention of military withdrawal from two Palestinian cities, as well as the removal of three military checkpoints and the increase of work licenses for Palestinians in Israel. However, Hamas says that in exchange for the latter, there are daily violations that have already reached more than a 100 operations, and the Israeli stubbornness concerning the detainees means a total breach of the truce, as Hamas objects to the suggested number and to the "quality" of the detainees that are likely to be released. The Israeli government has declared to have agreed on releasing detainees from both Hamas and Al-Jihad, so the resistance is waiting for the execution, and brother Mishaal says that Israel has not yet made any real move in return for the full commitment of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire. The Palestinian government is dealing wrong with Sharon, and is not hence serving the Palestinian cause or itself.

He added that this government had come through a C-section and as a result of foreign pressures, and hence was not natural to meet the Palestinian wishes, so it is still an issue of disagreement between the resistance factions, even inside Fatah itself.

Hamas wants the release of all the prisoners, regardless of their charges, and refuses the fact that President Bush will not ask the release of people having practiced terrorism. It says that it is evaluating the situation on daily basis, by making contacts with Arab and international parties that have sought to soothe things, so as to take responsibility and reveal the party causing tension on the ground, a tension that might lead to a return to the previous situation.

Will Hamas or Al-Jihad cancel the truce before it expires? Mishaal says they will wait for the right time to reveal that, and their first priority shall be the higher interest of the Palestinians.

Hamas insists that Abbas' experience with Sharon was a failure, and it calls upon him to be honest with the Palestinian people and the national forces, knowing that some governmental sources are giving wrong impressions about the easiness of the situation, as they refuse to admit failure.

If I were to add something, I would say that although Hamas and Al-Jihad's dislike the course of issues so far, they would be careful in their next step because they do not want for the resistance to be held responsible for the end of truce. This is why Prime Minister Abbas will find that he has enough time to prove himself right in case he manages to offer the Palestinians certain achievements that would soothe the tension of their daily lives, and in case his government carries out the Palestinian commitments according to the Roadmap.