In these bloody times anyone who can hold a pen or use a microphone has been directing the blame squarely at Arabs and Muslims, accusing them of inadequacy and complacency, complaining of their inability to assemble and lend support. It is a broken record, cranked up on the painful day that Hamas leader Abdelaziz Al-Rantissi was assassinated like the organization’s founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin before him.
Yes, the Arabs have been derelict in their duty toward their Palestinian brethren, politically, militarily, financially and on the humanitarian level. None of us can be proud of our achievement — on the contrary we are all ashamed of it.
However, there is a concomitant shortcoming on the Palestinian side, which is after all the main victim of the tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes. Their impotence is one reason why the Arab Ummah and its leadership are so helpless.
It is the Palestinian leadership above all that must reform itself — because that is easier than reforming 20 Arab countries at once. Arabs are being criticized for their political failure, which has reached the point where they can’t even agree to have a meeting. When they do meet they are unable to agree, and if they do somehow agree they come out with flimsy statements. The history of Arab meetings over the decades is clear evidence of this.
But in Palestine the situation is not much better. The multitude of factions and organizations refuse to meet; they may talk about it but never do. If they finally convene a meeting through a mediator they usually fail to agree. In the few instances when they did in fact agree, they published enthusiastic statements and then went back to disagreeing among themselves.
This disgraceful situation isn’t limited to the meetings Egypt has several times arranged for these organizations. It also goes for the Palestinian Authority itself. Look at the ongoing battles for jurisdiction, for positions and over any and all decisions: they continue unabated even as the Israelis take matters in their own hands and create undeniable realities on the ground that can only be resisted with a united front.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who wants to pull out of Gaza but fears the anger of opponents in his own party, resorted to a popular survey in order to hold everyone responsible. Meanwhile the Palestinians are adrift in a sea of struggles over power and attempts to escape their responsibility.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera, former Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen revealed explosive information about the way his country and its issues are run. It was essentially a condemnation of the Authority’s work and its leader. Personal interests have taken precedence over national interests. If this had happened in a country built on respectable organizations, all those who participated in that mockery would have been held accountable, especially since all the while citizens are paying the price with their blood.
I don’t mean that the people and the leaders of the wider Arab world are not accountable for what is happening in the Occupied Territories, but the order in which blame is apportioned needs to be reversed. You cannot expect Moroccans, Saudis or Qataris to be more concerned about the Palestinian issue than the people it directly concerns. Neither does it make sense to expect the members of the Arab League to be any more cohesive and in greater agreement than the leadership of the Palestinian factions.
The internal Palestinian squabbles are clear for the entire world to see whenever a ministerial post becomes available or a meeting is being organized. Again it makes no sense to ask 20 Arab leaders separated by huge geographical distances, interests and visions to agree when the leaders of a mere four organizations, all Palestinian, cannot see eye to eye. That is what the Cairo meeting has shown.
