Twenty-four hours after Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon agreed on the new drive for a Palestinian settlement with a cease-fire, Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced that neither would be bound by the deal. They did not, however, vow to continue their attacks, thus reserving their position.
Their reaction was hardly unexpected but it is deeply disappointing. Hard-line Zionists behind Sharon do not want to give up an inch of the occupied territories and indeed want more Palestinian land. Even the continued threat of militant violence, let alone violence itself, can be used as an excuse for the Israelis to walk away from the negotiating table, shaking their heads hypocritically and appealing to the waiting world that even though they really tried hard, there is no dealing with the aggressive Palestinians.
By maintaining their threatening profile, the armed groups are also giving a hostage to fortune. At some point in the negotiations, the Israelis are going to demand that they give up their weapons. Such a demand will be seen as a humiliation. Knowing this, Israeli negotiators will engage in head-line grabbing and make generous concessions, sure that they will be able to claw them all back the minute the disarmament issue is raised in a suitably provocative manner for the armed Palestinian groups. Sharon’s people will also at some point demand that the Palestinian government act militarily against the “terrorists,” anticipating that the occupied territories will be plunged into civil conflict which will only strengthen the Israeli hand. This disaster could be avoided for certain if Hamas and Islamic Jihad now made themselves part of the peace process and even considered handing over much of their weaponry to the Palestinian authorities.
It is not guns and explosives that have fueled the intifada but the rage and frustration of ordinary people driven beyond all thoughts of moderation. In the horrible event that these new peace talks fail and conflict resumes, the militants will still have the most potent weapon of all — the angry and frustrated hearts and minds of Palestinian citizens. If Hamas and Islamic Jihad behave wisely, they may gain widespread international sympathy, which however will dissolve like morning mist at the first bright flash of a suicide bomber or the detonation of a rocket or bomb.
It is as though they have forgotten their key aim which is liberty and justice for Palestine. Here is a chance to achieve that ambition based on compromises which may cost Israelis more than Palestinians. The only purpose of war is to make peace. Only madmen fight war for war’s sake alone. The continued existence of militants waiting in the wings is not going to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas’ negotiation position. Rather they are going to undermine it seriously. Any time the Israelis want to sabotage the talks, they have only to make a provocative raid in the near certainty that Hamas or Islamic Jihad will immediately strike back and so can be presented as fanatical terrorists. Now is the time to put aside weapons and give peace a chance.
