As far as the Israelis are concerned, the Palestinians can’t win. Short of rolling over and agreeing to be trampled upon for all time a Palestinian government has little hope of being accorded respect and treated as a worthy partner for peace.
Yasser Arafat was embraced, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, then vilified and isolated. His successor Mahmoud Abbas was virtually ignored. Ismail Haniyeh was labeled leader of a terrorist organization and deprived of diplomatic stature as well as funds with which to run the country.
Since Palestinians overwhelmingly voted for a Hamas-led government in free and fair elections, Abbas was elevated by both Israel and the Quartet to someone with whom they could do business. The US took him under its wing and his Fatah faction was provided with cash and weapons.
The result was a situation that threatened to explode into civil war causing Israeli leaders to bleat, “We would love to talk peace but how can we do so when there isn’t one address?”
There will be shortly. Thanks to the Makkah accord thrashed out between Abbas and Haniyeh and signed in the presence of King Abdullah the Palestinians are shortly to benefit from a unity government wherein Hamas will no longer hold the majority of Cabinet seats.
Under the agreement the new government will respect international resolutions and previous agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which implies recognition of the Israeli state.
This should be a time for celebration. It’s an opportunity for the Quartet to cease its economic squeeze of the Palestinian Authority and an opening for Israel to return to the peace table. But thus far the Quartet’s response has been lukewarm, apart from Russia, which has enthusiastically welcomed the accord. Spain and Norway have also voiced their support.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, is less than impressed. He hasn’t yet formally responded to the deal but has hinted that Mahmoud Abbas may be ostracized for joining hands with Hamas.
Olmert insists that any new government must recognize Israel, accept the terms of former peace agreements and renounce violence. He further wants the Quartet to back up these demands.
The US has predictably supported the Israeli government’s stance ignoring the fact that Hamas has agreed to abide by agreements signed between Israel and the PLO, which in themselves constitute recognition of Israel.
Is there no light at the end of the tunnel for Palestinians? Not only have they been subsisting under occupation for the past 59 years, they are now being bombed, assassinated and starved as punishment for voting-in Hamas. If the new unity government isn’t recognized either then where do they go from here?
Even if new elections were held and Fatah regained control there is no guarantee that Israel and the US would accept that government either. Just cast your mind back to when Yasser Arafat was president. Throughout the latter years of his life he was condemned, imprisoned, fired upon and even mocked.
In fact, there is no indication apart from empty words that Olmert desires peace with the Palestinians or the Arab world at large.
In the last weeks, his army has once again crossed over Israel’s northern border with Lebanon to fire upon Lebanese troops under the pretext Hezbollah is rearming. At the same time, Israeli jets violate Lebanese airspace at will under the nose of UN peacekeepers, which are obviously based on Lebanese soil to protect Israel rather than the other way around.
An even greater provocation is Olmert’s decision to build a new pedestrian walkway to the Mughrabi ascent leading to the Haram Al-Sharif — Islam’s third holiest site. The problem isn’t so much the bridge itself as the preliminary excavation that accompanies its construction, mandated by Israeli law.
Critics fear that such excavation will weaken the foundations of the Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) that includes Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Olmert has fended off those accusations and despite entreaties from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Arab League, the Jerusalem police and his own defense secretary, he has vowed to continue his bridge building, which threatens to end up as bridge burning.
If anything were to happen to the Haram Al-Sharif as a result of the construction, the Muslim world will be united against Israel and peace a forgotten concept.
It’s surprising that Olmert hasn’t learned anything from Benjamin Netenyahu’s tunneling under the complex in 1996, triggering riots and deaths, or the 2000 visit of Ariel Sharon to the holy site accompanied by hundreds of armed men, which sparked the second intifadah.
Muslim sensitivities and suspicions are heightened when it comes to Israeli tampering in the area due to the fact religious Jews believe under the Haram Al-Sharif lies evidence in the form of artifacts that Solomon’s Temple once existed in the same spot. So far, no artifacts have been found to support this premise, which has not been accepted by Muslims.
Both messianic Christians and Jews dream of the day when the temple is rebuilt for different reasons and in some cases have partnered up toward this common goal necessitating the destruction of Al-Aqsa.
Olmert’s stubborn resolution to continue with construction and excavation even after he has been warned that a third intifadah may result begs these questions.
Why would he risk bloodshed and bad relations with Jordan and Egypt for the sake of a new walkway when he can simply renovate the existing structure? What is he really up to and who, if anyone, is pulling his strings?
Israel’s Department of Antiquities has admitted it is actively searching for artifacts before the new walkway is built, which strengthens the arm of critics who say the walkway is merely a pretext for excavation.
Late on Sunday, the mayor of Jerusalem postponed the bridge’s construction until opposing arguments can be heard but the salvage excavation has been given the green light to continue.
Ironically, the perceived threat to Al-Aqsa may have been the catalyst that brought Fatah and Hamas together. Palestine’s new unity government should be helped to succeed. Kudos must go to King Abdullah for blessing and facilitating the process. Now it’s the turn of the international community, which should quit producing obstacle courses, cease its humiliation of the Palestinian leadership and for once lend a hand.
