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Letters
Multiple tension in Palestine
Latin America turns left
02/2006 |
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[ Comment ]
Multiple tension in Palestine
The recent unrest in Palestine has various roots. Intra-Palestinian strife is exacerbated by Israeli occupation policies and the inconsequential role of the international quartet (USA, EU, Russia and UN).
[ By Rami G. Khouri ]
In the months leading up to the parliamentary elections in Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza have been plagued by recurring political violence. The reasons are the continuing conflict with Israel on the one hand and intra-Palestinian conflicts after the passing away of Yasser Arafat on the other. At least four main confrontations generate the current tension and violence.
The first is within Arafat’s Fateh movement itself. It has dominated Palestinian national politics since its establishment in the mid-1960s. Fateh’s internal tensions started in the mid-1990s, reflecting competition for political power between younger indigenous Palestinians, who had waged the first intifada, and older Arafat-led PLO officials, who had lived abroad. The second intifada erupted in September 2000. It led to the emergence of more dynamic local leaders and activists within Fateh, many of whom were fed up with the corruption and inefficiency that increasingly defined the Palestinian Authority (PA) after the Oslo Accords were implemented in 1994. For instance, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades emerged as an important Fateh offshoot. This entity is said to be manned mostly by disgruntled former PA and Fateh security officers. The Brigades advocate military resistance as the way to end Israel's occupation, whereas the traditional Fateh leadership prefers diplomatic means.
This fragmentation of Fateh was brought about to a large extent by Israeli occupation policies that made it very difficult for Palestinians in different cities to maintain regular contact or establish national political institutions in recent decades. The vacuum in national political authority was filled by rebel or independent Fateh activists, along with autonomous neighbourhood structures that were often little more than armed gangs. Unemployed young men from Fateh and other groups have also tried to blackmail the PA in search of jobs.
Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestine's president last year as Fateh’s candidate, but his weak leadership has led to further political infighting among Fateh factions. Other groups in Palestine have also challenged Abbas politically – and even with occasional street violence. Doing so would have seemed unimaginable in Arafat’s time.
A second source of tension (and occasional conflict) pits the Fateh-led PA against the leading Islamist group Hamas, which already has done well in municipal elections. As Hamas and other militants resist Israel’s occupation with military force, Israel replies in kind and also pressures the PA to disarm Hamas. This has generated new tensions between Hamas and the PA which sometimes spill over into street violence.
A third source of tension is the overall Palestinian-Israeli relationship. It is still defined by Israeli occupation and Palestinian resistance. The fragmentation of Palestinian political society and the impact of the spontaneous local resistance practiced during the past five years have widened the arena of Palestinian-Israeli military confrontation. This leads to greater Israeli and international pressure on the PA to control and stop these Palestinians who fight against Israel and its occupation policies. This pressure exacerbates intra-Palestinian tensions and violence.
The fourth cause of strife is the erratic relationship of Israelis and Palestinians with the four parties that form the international quartet supposed to shepherd the parties back to peace negotiations, namely the USA, EU, Russia and the UN. With little pressure or engagement by the quartet, local frustration increases – and so does lawlessness. After all, everyone concerned is prompted to take matters into their own hands in an attempt to improve political bargaining positions – be it through military force or acts of political violence.
This comment was written before the election.
Rami G. Khouri,
a Palestinian, is a syndicated columnist and editor-at-large of the Beirut-based regional newspaper Daily Star.
Rami.Khouri@dailystar.com.lb
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