The Palestinian conflict has reached a new level of divide
February 3rd, 2009
The Palestinian conflict has reached a new level of divide. I haven’t seen more lack of common sense, idiocy and inanity like what we have now between Fatah and Hamas. Each is working for their own interest as if the Palestinian people have given them the right and permission to go ahead with their plans. They are playing cards with the fate of a whole nation.
Hamas lacks the Political wisdom and intellect when it announces from Damascus that it will surprise the world with an alternative for the PLO. The Palestinian Liberation Organization is the only official representative for the Palestinians. It includes leadership from all Palestinian fractions and replacing such an entity will endanger and jeopardize the integrity of the Palestinian cause and perhaps put an end to it. It is up to Palestinian people to decide if they need new blood in the PLO to represent their fate and plans for statehood and what course to take in the Peace process track. Hamas has also committed a stupid mistake by launching 4 rockets into Israel on Sunday, rockets that are locally made and harmful, and do not serve any one any good. It is only a demonstration muscles to show Israel and the World that Hamas still has its own military capability while putting Palestinian lives in jeopardy.
While Hamas leadership is in Tehran for consulting, Fatah leadership went to Cairo yesterday to show the world how helpless and corrupted they are. Fatah have failed significantly during the war on Gaza to take a position of solidarity and denouncing violence against civilians. They have failed to stand up for their people’s right for self defense and self determination. And while they are busy fighting in Ramallah and Cairo, calling Hamas and Hezbollah nasty names, Israel is continuing its assault on Palestinians in Eastern Jerusalem. Just yesterday, 14 school girls were hurt when the Israeli government was constructing a tunnel under the Muslim Holy Site which caused the land under the school to glide. While Fatah ad Hamas are fighting, Palestinians are still living in unbearable and intolerable conditions, restricting their movement in the Occupied West Bank; an Apartheid wall that is cutting Palestinian villages, towns and lands into pieces, the lack of security and economic prosperity. Fatah who have been known over the years for wasting Palestinian Public money, kept a distant from the people by building their own high secured walls of special police force and intelligence agents, cooperating many times with Israel on targeting Hamas and Jihad militias, putting respectful Palestinian leadership in prison who have disagreed with the corruption. Fatah have put its people down.
As for Arab countries, Egypt is restricting and blocking Media, Moroccan and Jordanian Parliament members from entering the strip. During the war, Egypt had a passive and quiet position, blocking any protests from taking place in Cairo, blocking Aid and Help to enter Gaza, fearing the block of the annual 20 Billion US Aid, which can cause instability in the ill Mubarak regime. Mubarak finally announced that Ulmert will act in accordance with his calls to end the war, what a joke.
Saudi Arabia is testing Obama’s waters and anticipating the improvement of Saudi – American relations after 8 years of fringy cold ties. The Saudis remained quiet and failed to attend an Arab summit in Qatar. All they did was to treat 60 Palestinians in Saudi hospitals and offer 1 Billion dollars to Fatah!
Palestinians do not need corrupted people like Azzam Al Ahmad, Ahmad Qrae3, Mohamad Dahlan, Sa2eb 3riekat and Mahmoud Abbas, nor do we need people who lack wisdom like Khaled Mesh3al and Ismael Hanneyah. We have reached the lowest point in every party and every Arab country who are playing the Palestinian card for their own interests. We are fed up with empty promises from every country and government. We are fed up from fanatic leadership, based on religion and Iranian interestes. We are fed up from corrupted leadership based on public theft.
What we need now is new leadership with a vision and strategy, leadership with strong Political and Financial background. We need a leadership that can lead the Palestinian people to a fair and just Peace, and is capable of negotiating with the Israelis.
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I wish President Obama will read this post to understand that working with Mahmud Abbas who is no longer, according the Palestinian Charter, the legitimate leader of the Palestinians, is useless! The USA must talk to Hamas and people like Hanan Ashrawi, Dr. Mustafa Al Bargouti as well as the thousands of Palestinian intellectuals in the Diaspora to reach peaceful settlement to this conflict.
Great post.
Excellent post. It is hard to decide right now who is more disgusting–Fatah, who have robbed the Palestinian people or Hamas, who are offering them up as a sacrifice. Either way, neither deserve the responsibility of governing. Both of them invite the fallacy that Palestinians are incapable of self-rule, which just feeds the Western view that Palestinians are inferior and “need” Israel. But it is also possible that this breakdown in the two main governmental branches are a blessing in disguise. Palestinians must rise up and determine who is worthy of representing their needs, and do it for themselves, not some global stage that has yet to speak out about the conditions Palestinians face daily under Israeli occupation. It is time to say ENOUGH.
Sam, Ashrawi and Bargouti are perhaps the best available now in Palestine, I wonder if there is anyone else who is fit for the job?
Susan, thanks for checking the post. I sometimes wonder how Palestinians in the West Bank who have been resisting occupation for 40 years were not able to get rid of Fatah in Ramallah and Hamas in Gaza, I find it strange
it is a strong post ali – one of your better ones.. well done..
Israel managed, after helping getting rid of Arafat, to put a leadership helped by a police force trained to quell and arrest activists!
Soon, Israel will face the ticking bomb of demographics and will question the Aparthied system it will impose on a majority of Palestinians.
“Israel managed, after helping getting rid of Arafat”?
Are you blaming Arafat’s death on Israel? Tell me, what isn’t Israel’s fault?
Tell me, what isn’t the Palestinians’ fault?
You need to apply some of your own logic to your own arguments. Change happens when people unite against corruption and extremism on all sides and you will see hopeful results with Israeli activists fighting for Palestinian rights and Palestinians against rockets into Israel. Thousands of Palestinians are expressing their concern and anger towards their so called “leaders,” the mainstream media within Israel and the USA needs to document them to represent accurately what many Palestinians feel. Many of them don’t hate average Israelis, they’re simply angry towards Israel’s despicable aggression, as a government. Many journalists often fail to distinguish the difference.
@Esra’a,
So you are defending the statement that Israel killed Arafat?
On the rest of what you said, I agree with you that the media doesn’t represent dissenting Arab views like being against rocket attacks. But how is Western media supposed to do it when even Arab media won’t do it?
My comment was not even remotely similar to what you’re assuming, which exactly proves my point. I’m criticizing your reaction. 1 in every 3 of your comments here revolve around you trying to paint the image that Arabs blame Israel for everything, which is ironic considering the theme of this thread! “What isn’t Israel’s fault?” – My point is that you consistently ask this question without once asking yourself, “What isn’t Palestine’s fault?” which many Israelis won’t be able to answer!
The Arab media does it, even though not as often as they should. The Arab blogosphere does it. Authors here repeatedly do it. We published podcasts where Palestinians do it. American mainstream media is aware but refuse to listen because it doesn’t serve their political agenda.
You can’t say “Western” because Europe is definitely WAY more aware of this than in the USA.
If you’re aware of Arabs and Palestinians making a difference, then make others aware of what you’re seeing. You know for a fact many Arabs are against the rocket attacks or any violence whatsoever, but we won’t support Israel’s corrupt and outrageous policies to make this point, and many Israelis stand with us in this decision. Acknowledge we exist and make others aware so they can stop resorting to abusive stereotypes that dehumanize us.
I didn’t say that I don’t believe that Arabs don’t disagree their “leaders”. It’s just that the media institutions in let say Egypt or Qatar(as you just said to NAME them in your post), won’t present dissenting views among Arabs.
The blogosphere does it that’s why we are both here – to listen to other opinions.
You first responded to my comment with: “Tell me, what isn’t the Palestinians’ fault?”
Where did I blame Palestinians anywhere in that comment? What hypocracy! You “refuse to listen because it doesn’t serve your political ideology and enforce your negative stereotypes.”
You can’t claim something is hypocritical merely due to your apparent lack of understanding. Link me to a single comment of yours where you criticize Israel. You will not find one. Hence my similar question to you.
My problem is with the way you react, so I applied the same logic to your own argument, hoping you will get the idea. I hope you finally understand how irritating your logic is. When someone makes a single claim against Israel, no matter how false it is, that doesn’t mean they blame the world’s problems on Israel. Sam obviously agrees that there are internal issues that must be tackled, hence why he criticized Mahmoud Abbas. That itself is acknowledgement that it’s not all “Israel’s fault.”
Secondly, my issue is not with your one comment here, but with the fact that almost every single comment of yours consists of the exact same argument: “they blame everything on Israel.” This is your general theme, and no matter how many times it’s refuted, you repeat it again and again.
Your first question was legitimate. I’ve no problem with your tone. But your second implication is just offensive and I don’t appreciate the repetition of it on every relevant thread.
Painfully false. Al Jazeera is founded and based in Qatar. They are controversial primarily for presenting dissenting views among Arabs, hence why they were kicked out of many Arab countries. Arabs criticize each other in talk shows and interviews on a daily basis, and many ethnic and religious minorities within the Arab world are represented. Not always accurately. But they’re there. Hell, they even talk about atheists!
Israel has killed too many Palestinian leaders! Why are you surprised that it might have killed Arafat too? Doesnt Israel say that Ismail Hanneya, the only dimocraticaly elected Arab leader, is a taregt for assasination?
wake up and semll the roses …
@Esra,
You wrote: “Link me to a single comment of yours where you criticize Israel.”
The following link is from my site where I criticize Israel’s Election Committee for disqualifying Balad and another Arab party in Israel:
http://oldworldnewideas.blogspot.com/2009/01/oy-vey-what-is-israel-doing.html
“I think that the ultra-nationalists scare me more than the Arab parties because of two reasons. One, their numbers. Two, their platform is against the core basics of my liberal Jewish-American ideals.”
You wrote: “hence why he criticized Mahmoud Abbas.”
I didn’t talk about about his criticism of Abbas. I talked about his statement that Israel killed Arafat.
Check this out!
http://www.IfAmericansKnew.net
Thanks everyone for having an open dialogue here, that is just great. It is true that Dr Ashrawi and dr Barghoti are perhaps one of the most domnant respectful figures inside Palestine. There are many outside Palestine like Munib Masri.
Lirun, thanks, hope u like it not because im bashing Hamas only
Michael, we tend to blame everything in the Arab world on Israel, its a bad habbit! But there are some claims that it did help to get rid of Arafat who wasn’t anymore needed, as he was too symbolic for Palestinian resistance, it was time to let thugs like Abbas and Rjoub and Dahlan the way to cause more chaoes in the west bank. After all Israel locked Arafat for months.
Esra, I know where you stand from, but its true we like to blame our leadership failures on Israel. Ofcourse alot of the suffering of the Palestinians does fall on Israel for the past 60 years