Opportunism Trumps in Palestine
by Ramzy Baroud
 The rash and self-defeatist behaviour emanating from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his close circle in the West Bank cannot possibly be intended for the benefit of the Palestinian people or for their internationally sanctioned struggle for human rights, freedom and equality.
Abbas, and his self-serving Palestinian elites seem hell-bent on exploiting the unfolding Palestinian drama to further cement their status and position, even if such an attitude will lead to the total decimation of any little hope of recovering Palestinian rights.
The Palestinian, Israeli and international response --
spearheaded by the Bush administration -- to the Hamas election victory
and formation of a government under military occupation, in January and
March 2006 respectively, indicated that democracy for all of these
players falls into the category of political opportunism: to unleash
wars, rationalise illegal occupations or profit financially. Under
Abbas's rule, democracy was and remains a vehicle. It is mostly
constituted from a bizarre mix of rhetoric, unsubstantiated by any
meaningful action.
If true democracy is intended to prevail
over all threats and challenges, Abbas has failed miserably. Like every
autocratic ruler, he understands that any practical application of
democracy in the Middle East as in other parts of the world must pass
the American test, an old lesson that the region was forced to learn
time and again. Whatever serves American interests represents true
democracy; anyone who dares to challenge these interests is duly
ostracised and removed. However, friendly regimes (from the US point of
view) that fail to exhibit even a token of a democratic governance are
viewed as "moderate", as opposed to the "extremist" others who could be
very democratic, such as Hamas. Indeed, Abbas understands the rules of
the democratic game very well; well- educated in political science and
history, he has been immersed in the region's tumultuous politics for
over four decades.
While Abbas has the right to deduce his own
view of the world, he has no right to apply such deductions to
eradicate the historic struggle of an entire nation. His actions are
both unethical and unjustified, to say the least. The ageing leader and
the shady characters surrounding him will go down in history books
alongside all the rulers and elites that sided with their occupier and
tormentor of their own people in exchange for worldly profits and
shallow status. While corporate media across the world predictably
fails to acknowledge the anti- democratic nature of the Abbas-managed
charade, Israeli politicians, policy advisors and commentators are
hardly discreet about the role they expect Abbas to play: his security
forces must crack down on any dissent among Palestinians. His militants
will carry out the dirty business of kidnappings and assassinations, in
line with Israeli and American policy objectives.
In fact,
Abbas's apparatus has proved exemplary in meeting these objectives.
Thus, the Palestinian leader and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are
being rewarded generously: tens of millions of US taxpayers' dollars,
tax funds that Israel has illegally held from the elected Hamas
government, military training for its weak security forces and,
finally, an international platform to provide Abbas with the political
validation he needs. Abbas, in return, is throwing in a few extras,
beyond the measures expected from him. A few of his government's
mouthpieces are disseminating inaccurate information to international
media equating Hamas to Al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban militants; some
have gone as far as alleging an actual link between Hamas and Al-Qaeda,
a charge that can only contribute further to the misery and isolation
of the Palestinians.
As a reward for Abbas's active
involvement in deepening the desperation in Gaza and widening disunity
among Palestinians, he has been granted the privilege of meeting
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert once every two weeks, and also the
trust and confidence of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her
boss. Any attempt at reconciliation with Hamas, which is supported by
the majority of Palestinians, at least in the occupied territories,
would most definitely lead to the withdrawal of some, if not of all of
these advantages, a risk Abbas will not take.
But Palestinian
disunity is disastrous, not only because it's a diversion from the
struggle for freedom and sovereignty and because it distracts the
international community from Israel's illegal occupations, it also
presents Hamas and Fatah with very limited options: Hamas's isolation
will likely strengthen the more radical view among its members, which
will make it difficult to find a common ground in the future; Fatah,
which is losing its popular support by the day, would have to continue
to rely on outside help and initiatives, notwithstanding the hardly
promising international Middle East peace conference aimed at
solidifying the support for Abbas against Hamas, or at the revival of
the Jordan option, linking the West Bank to Jordan through a
confederation. Talks about the latter, reported recently in the Israeli
daily Haaretz -- though the idea has been floating for many years --
could become terrifyingly real for two reasons: first, the
internationally recognised Palestinian leadership of Abbas cannot
maintain control over the Palestinians without the active support of
regional and international actors, such as Egypt and Jordan, and
second, the same leadership has proved most capable of sinking to new
lows daily.
In the months leading to the November peace
conference, Abbas is expected to further demonstrate his
trustworthiness to Israel and the US, at the expense of the Palestinian
people, who are now denied the only strong card in their six-decade
struggle for freedom: their sense of collectivity, which, despite
occasional fragmentations, always managed to survive against all odds.
The day this is no longer possible, Israel's victory will be complete.
Ramzy
Baroud is a Palestinian-American author and editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in numerous
newspapers and journals worldwide. His latest book is The Second
Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press,
London).
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