Edging nearer

Hamas and Fatah come close to agreement on a common stance for peace negotiations, though what it will mean in practice remains unclear, reports Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank

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As the implosive showdown between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Hamas-led Palestinian government continued, there were hopes that the two sides might eventually accept a national consensus programme drafted by the leaders of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, whose enthusiasm for holding a national referendum on the direction of the Palestinian struggle has reportedly waned, has given Hamas four more days to accept the document. The reason assumed for Abbas's sudden reservations with regard to a referendum is a realisation on his part that such a poll might create more problems than it would solve.

The PA president, who some observers believe suggested a referendum without really studying its possible ramifications beforehand, now understands that a massive "yes" vote would radicalise the overall Palestinian stand vis-à-vis Israel, a prospect not welcomed by Israel or the United States.

For its part, Hamas, amid feelings of being bullied by Abbas's 10-day ultimatum, which expired midnight Monday, refused to take the 18-point prisoners' programme at face value, saying more time ought to be given to study the document.

The document, dubbed the "Prisoners' Document", calls for the creation of a Palestinian state on the entirety of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem as well as the preservation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees pursuant UN Resolution 194.

The document contains implicit recognition of Israel, as well as recognition on the part of all Palestinian factions that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

"We will not act under duress, I am not prepared to accept the Prisoners' Document with a gun to my head," argued Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

To be sure, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, and especially in the West Bank, have never given an emphatic "no" to the document that is actually substantially compatible with Hamas's political and ideological constants. This is in contrast to the Damascus-based leadership that for its own reasons voiced grave reservations over the document.

Between Hamas and Fatah, disagreements over the document concern form rather than substance, as a key advisor to Haniyeh told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I can't really see many objective differences. It is just the distrust and the bad chemistry,' said Ahmed Youssef, political advisor to the Palestinian prime minister.

Indeed, this is the overwhelming view of Hamas leaders in the West Bank, including Parliament Speaker Abdul-Aziz Duweik.

In an interview with the Weekly in recent days, Duweik called on both Fatah and Hamas to "leave hard feelings aside and display national responsibility." Duweik continued: "I think the Prisoners' Document is a very important document. The fact that the right of return is established and confirmed in this document makes it easier for us to accept."

Duweik denied that a referendum would embarrass and weaken Hamas. "It might create a certain psychological atmosphere for a short period. But, on the contrary, a yes vote would vindicate our views and effectively kill all other past initiatives and understandings that exclude the right of return. It would push others, not us, into a corner, since it is the others, not us, who have shown willingness to compromise the right of return."

Duweik is right to a large extent, since the adoption of the document by the PA, with or without a referendum, would radicalise the Palestinian position at least on two central issues: the totality of any prospective withdrawal from the West Bank, which Israel rejects; and the repatriation of and indemnifications for millions of Palestinian refugees who the Prisoners' Document says must be allowed to return to their homes and native towns and villages in what is now Israel.

Needless to say, this latter demand is anathema to Zionism which views any large influx of Palestinian refugees into Israel as tantamount to ending Zionism and ending Israel as a predominantly Jewish state.

Hence, it is possible that both Hamas and the PA will reach a concordance which could enable Abbas to tell the international community -- especially the US and EU -- that all Palestinians, including the Hamas-led government, are receptive to a genuine peace settlement that would include recognition of Israel in exchange for the creation of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with Israeli- occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas, of course, like Fatah, realises that accepting the Prisoners' Document would entail very few political implications, if any, in real terms since Israel refuses the document and is sticking to a milder form of the largely vague and indecisive American-backed "roadmap". Hence, many in Hamas have reportedly come to think that the adoption of the Prisoners' Document would be innocuous and might enable the PA and the government to break the present crippling embargo which has effectively pushed many Palestinians to the brink of starvation.

Meanwhile, the pseudo-tribal clashes between Hamas and Fatah elements in the Khan Yunis region of Gaza continued to cause death and injury among civilians and members of both groups. This week, at least six were killed, including a pregnant woman, when gunmen believed to be affiliated with the Preventive Security Services (PSS), attacked a car in which a Hamas operative and his wife and brother were driving in Khan Yunis.

Hamas gunmen, angry at the carnage, blamed Mohamed Dahlan, former Gaza strongman and head of the PSS, for the killing. Their accusations don't appear without foundation. Dahlan, during a closed meeting at a Gaza radio station two weeks ago, said he would make Hamas suffer and regret the day they won the elections. Dahlan said he was Hamas's political enemy and that as such he alone could confront the movement and its government.

In addition to political and factional tribalism, it is almost certain that psychological frustration stemming out of mounting poverty, caused by the Israeli-American-European embargo and financial blockade, leaves Palestinian gunmen constantly on edge. Many young men would do just about anything in return for a fixed sum of cash for their families. The situation, thus, is ripe for political abuse.