Now that the Palestinian emergency government is in place, it has to face the multifaceted challenges thrown at it from all directions. For this new government to function effectively, to create an impact, and to affect real political and economic changes, it has to have defined, recognizable, achievable objectives and to set itself a timeline to realize those objectives. With regard to the question surrounding its legitimacy, a convincing answer will come about as soon as the Palestinian public has a chance to evaluate this government’s performance, and measures the achievements in relation to the set objectives. This is so because a government’s legitimacy, as far as the Palestinian public is concerned, is a function of its ability to implement its objectives within the time span allotted to it, and not the different legal interpretations thrown around by various so-called legal experts trying to untie the knot of purposefully ambiguous sets of legal formulations brought about in the first place to satisfy requirements of opposing points of view.
According to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, his government’s objective is to instate the principle of one law, one authority and one gun throughout the Palestinian occupied territories, to alleviate the economic hardships, and to bring Gaza back into the Palestinian unity fold as it always has been.
For the emergency government to succeed, it requires the cooperation of all Palestinians, and in this regard, particular emphasis must be placed on Palestinian intellectuals, public opinion shapers, be they inside the occupied Palestinian territories or outside. This also requires real international intervention to support the new Palestinian government politically and financially.
It is no secret that Hamas has squeezed itself into a tight corner, and that its violent practices in Gaza cannot be justified under any circumstances. Its mutiny against the Palestinian legitimate political system in which Hamas itself was an integral partner, was a mistake of colossal proportions. No one in the Palestinian political system would trust Hamas any more, and it will take much effort, much change, and much time before one can even begin to consider Hamas’ return to the fold.
It is advisable that Hamas rethinks and evaluates what it recently did to itself, to the Palestinian people, and to the Palestinian cause. A clever and pragmatic leadership can stop, assess the situation, and re-think what it should do next: Does it need to continue on its bloody path, commit more mistakes, bringing worse disasters on the people it purports to represent?
One way to try to make amends for what they did in Gaza last week is for Ismail Haniyeh to comply with the presidential decrees, disarm, withdraw and dismantle his militias, evacuate all Palestinian national security and presidential guard compounds, restore dignity to the presidential compound and invite the new Palestinian government and its legitimate forces to assume their responsibilities, and implement its objectives as stated above. If anyone thinks what is required of Hamas is a wild dream or a far-fetched idea, then let them contemplate the alternatives.
Watching the joint press conference President Bush held with Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday in Washington, one cannot but feel revulsion at the opportunism of Olmert to appear as the passionate caring person trying to help Palestinians by not being “indifferent to their suffering”. It is hard to deny the actions perpetrated by Hamas in Gaza, but for Olmert to wear the sheep’s clothing is beyond the pale. Each and every decent human being knows for a fact that the Israeli occupation is the root cause of Palestinian suffering, hardship and destitution. Furthermore, people are becoming more aware of the fact that American and Western support is enabling the Israeli occupation to continue for the 40th year running.
To be fair to President Bush in this particular press conference, one could easily detect the different emphasis placed by Bush and Olmert on the issue of Palestinian aspirations and statehood. Despite the difficulties, one can assume that Bush this time is more sincere in what he says, and that his support for President Mahmoud Abbas is genuine. As Palestinians, we realized a long time ago that Israel, regardless of who is in power, is not interested in achieving real, just, and lasting peace with the Palestinian people. Israel’s policy has been and still is to force its vision for a solution on the Palestinian people. The Israeli vision for a Palestinian state falls far short of the state envisioned by Bush, which in turn falls short of the Palestinian vision for an independent state on all the land occupied by Israel since 1967, with slight border adjustments, with Arab East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and a fair and agreed upon solution for Palestinian refugees.
Some Palestinian intellectuals from a distance in the Diaspora keep calling for dissolving the Palestinian National Authority. They must stop. This is not a panacea, on the contrary, this is a call for anarchy and chaos, a call for destitution in one’s own homeland. What is required are the tools to strengthen the PNA, make it more representative and more democratic. What is required also is to enable the Palestinian people to strengthen their economy, build their educational institutions, have plans to enrich their culture, empower the youth with education, with entrepreneurship, to teach them the concept of steadfastness, and the value of freedom, liberty, and democracy. And most important of all, to stress on them, the sanctity of human life.
In the world we live in, no one can hide anything any more. Israel’s apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory is becoming obvious to everyone, it cannot and must not last any longer. The eight-meter high concrete wall Israel is building in the heart of Palestine is a mark of shame on Israel, and must be felt by Israel as such. The role of the world community, and the United Nations, whether some like it or not, is becoming stronger. The Palestinian cause is a just cause. The Palestinians’ strongest weapon are the UN resolutions. One day, sooner or later, Israel has no choice but to comply.
In the real world we live in, the methods of Hamas are not conducive to the fulfillment of Palestinian dreams for liberty, freedom, independence and statehood. Hamas must be made to have a break, go on a holiday, and give others the chance to function effectively, and expose Israel for the apartheid state she really is, an illegal occupier that must be brought to account for its 40 years of atrocities.
— Walid M. Awad is a member of the Central Media Commission in Ramallah.
