How Can you Blame the Occupation?
SECURITY BREAKDOWN: "As the Olmert government is continuing to threaten a large-scale military operation against the occupied Palestinian territories - especially the Gaza Strip - the only thing that is delaying it is the choice of the right time and the appropriate circumstances, writes Talal 'Awkal in Monday's leading Palestinian daily al-Ayyam.
Meanwhile, the comprehensive security breakdown continues, reaping more lives and what remains of the public's trust in its political leadership. Despite the Mecca Accord, the national unity government, and the ratification of a security plan, a new wave of intentional and unintentional violence is sweeping over the Gaza Strip.
Violence has indeed been on the rise over the past few days, despite all the moves, ideas, and initiatives regarding the Palestinian cause, few of which are public and most of which are private.
The new wave of internal violence is threatening even those modest activities that civil society organizations and some factions were intending to stage on the 59th anniversary of the nakba [the 1948 catastrophe as a result of the establishment of Israel].
People seem to be able to say nothing more than it would be unacceptable to squander the refugees' right of return. But the refugees themselves are saying: 'before speaking of our right to return, do something to prevent the increasing numbers of citizens who are leaving the country' - as the president of the Childhood Society in Tal az-Za'tar camp [in Lebanon] put it before a large crowd that included people of all ages who were either contemporaries of the nakba, or are waiting their turn to play a role in protecting Palestinian rights.
I do not understand the logic of those Palestinian officials who are still in the business of traveling here and there to hold meetings and talk to the media. Those who complain about the occupation's injustices and demand sympathy for their cause must answer the following question: 'why do you not show mercy towards yourself? How can you blame the occupation when you are doing what you are doing to yourselves?'
In response to Israel's recent decision to build 20 thousand new housing units in Jerusalem to complete the chain of settlements surrounding the city, isolate it from other Palestinian cities and territories, and enhance its Judaization, we have heard nothing but words of condemnation and denunciation, and demands that the international community should intervene, because what Israel is doing threatens all hope of making peace.
But in our immediate response to each other, we only hear the sound of bullets, shells, and bombs.
Jordanian King Abdullah II expressed deep sadness at the possibility of wasting the current opportunity for peace. He continues to repeat his fears that the passage of time could squander what remains of the territories we are trying to regain.
Meanwhile, we continue to drown in our domestic squabbles and struggles for power, finding no time to exploit this opportunity, at least to convince the international community that Israel is responsible for foiling the efforts aimed at reviving the peace process - a fact that everyone knows.
Before King Abdullah announced his intention to visit Ramallah for the first time, certain internet sites circulated what they described as a Jordanian initiative to establish a federal or con-federal relationship (or something in between) with the Palestinian territories. This would have gone back on the [1988] Jordanian decision to disengage [from the occupied Palestinian territories] before the establishment of the Palestinian state.
This was just a mere rumor as no official source could confirm it. But its spread may have been one of the reasons why the King cancelled his visit to Ramallah. There may have been other reasons for his decision, but the weather conditions were obviously not one of them. Rather, these reasons may have had to do with Israeli objections to such a visit because it suggests Jordanian support for the PA and President Mahmoud 'Abbas.
The strange thing is that many regional and international circles are displaying greater concern for the Palestinian problem and the peace process than some Palestinians who are drowning in their own factional agendas.
It is true that the horizon for renewing the peace process is occluded because of the Israeli government's weakness and the U.S. administration's deliberate unconcern, as well as everyone else's impotence.
But it is also true that the proper thing to do in the circumstances would be for the Palestinians to actively clarify Israel's responsibility for foiling the peace process - within the framework of Arab policy.
The public's patience has run out with their political leadership's disregard for their needs and suffering. The public expected a dialogue based on reason rather the dialogue of weapons.
The former dialogue led to the Mecca Accord, which we described at the time as a temporary truce, but which nonetheless constitutes a limited move in the process of reconstituting the Palestinian political system based on its new emerging factors.
A month and a half after the Mecca Accord, a national unity government was formed with great effort. This government was, and remains, our best option. But what if the national unity government were to collapse?
This is the question being raised now. There are those who believe that the fact a national unity government has priority over everything else provides them with suitable cover for their continued pursuit of power and authority, and that they can hold security hostage in their hands to achieve further gains and positions. And this places us before some difficult choices.
While the other options raise the threat of a major catastrophe for the entire Palestinian situation, the public can no longer bear to see the unity government paralyzed except when it is being used as a cover to be exploited to achieve factional and private interests at the public's expense.
Two months have passed since the formation of the government and one month since the security plan that it ratified. But nothing has changed. When certain security forces took the initiative - as the interior minister the fate of whose resignation remains unknown put it - storms was raised in their path. And these storms did not subside even when Hamas and Fateh agreed to pull all armed elements - legitimate and illegitimate - off the streets.
The stories on the Palestinian street about the daily transgressions against citizens are enough to turn one's hair white. But officials just seem to see them as run-of-the-mill transgressions that should not threaten the national unity government.
Quite frankly, I am ashamed to recount some of these very real stories. But one such story speaks of certain criminals daring to ask a man to hand his wife over to them after he
handed them his car keys under threat from their weapons.
The fact of the matter is that if there is no concern for the ordinary Palestinian citizen's sufferings, then our decision-makers need to consider the future of their politicals movement and personal roles carefully, now that a major part of the resistance's weapons are being used for matters that have to do solely with domestic agendas.
Where are the Palestinian central authorities heading in light of these circumstances? This is a question being asked by everyone, but we hear only one answer: Everything is pitch black like asphalt, except the roads which remain without asphalt!"When will we finally wake up?" asks 'Awkal in conclusion.
Meanwhile, the comprehensive security breakdown continues, reaping more lives and what remains of the public's trust in its political leadership. Despite the Mecca Accord, the national unity government, and the ratification of a security plan, a new wave of intentional and unintentional violence is sweeping over the Gaza Strip.
Violence has indeed been on the rise over the past few days, despite all the moves, ideas, and initiatives regarding the Palestinian cause, few of which are public and most of which are private.
The new wave of internal violence is threatening even those modest activities that civil society organizations and some factions were intending to stage on the 59th anniversary of the nakba [the 1948 catastrophe as a result of the establishment of Israel].
People seem to be able to say nothing more than it would be unacceptable to squander the refugees' right of return. But the refugees themselves are saying: 'before speaking of our right to return, do something to prevent the increasing numbers of citizens who are leaving the country' - as the president of the Childhood Society in Tal az-Za'tar camp [in Lebanon] put it before a large crowd that included people of all ages who were either contemporaries of the nakba, or are waiting their turn to play a role in protecting Palestinian rights.
I do not understand the logic of those Palestinian officials who are still in the business of traveling here and there to hold meetings and talk to the media. Those who complain about the occupation's injustices and demand sympathy for their cause must answer the following question: 'why do you not show mercy towards yourself? How can you blame the occupation when you are doing what you are doing to yourselves?'
In response to Israel's recent decision to build 20 thousand new housing units in Jerusalem to complete the chain of settlements surrounding the city, isolate it from other Palestinian cities and territories, and enhance its Judaization, we have heard nothing but words of condemnation and denunciation, and demands that the international community should intervene, because what Israel is doing threatens all hope of making peace.
But in our immediate response to each other, we only hear the sound of bullets, shells, and bombs.
Jordanian King Abdullah II expressed deep sadness at the possibility of wasting the current opportunity for peace. He continues to repeat his fears that the passage of time could squander what remains of the territories we are trying to regain.
Meanwhile, we continue to drown in our domestic squabbles and struggles for power, finding no time to exploit this opportunity, at least to convince the international community that Israel is responsible for foiling the efforts aimed at reviving the peace process - a fact that everyone knows.
Before King Abdullah announced his intention to visit Ramallah for the first time, certain internet sites circulated what they described as a Jordanian initiative to establish a federal or con-federal relationship (or something in between) with the Palestinian territories. This would have gone back on the [1988] Jordanian decision to disengage [from the occupied Palestinian territories] before the establishment of the Palestinian state.
This was just a mere rumor as no official source could confirm it. But its spread may have been one of the reasons why the King cancelled his visit to Ramallah. There may have been other reasons for his decision, but the weather conditions were obviously not one of them. Rather, these reasons may have had to do with Israeli objections to such a visit because it suggests Jordanian support for the PA and President Mahmoud 'Abbas.
The strange thing is that many regional and international circles are displaying greater concern for the Palestinian problem and the peace process than some Palestinians who are drowning in their own factional agendas.
It is true that the horizon for renewing the peace process is occluded because of the Israeli government's weakness and the U.S. administration's deliberate unconcern, as well as everyone else's impotence.
But it is also true that the proper thing to do in the circumstances would be for the Palestinians to actively clarify Israel's responsibility for foiling the peace process - within the framework of Arab policy.
The public's patience has run out with their political leadership's disregard for their needs and suffering. The public expected a dialogue based on reason rather the dialogue of weapons.
The former dialogue led to the Mecca Accord, which we described at the time as a temporary truce, but which nonetheless constitutes a limited move in the process of reconstituting the Palestinian political system based on its new emerging factors.
A month and a half after the Mecca Accord, a national unity government was formed with great effort. This government was, and remains, our best option. But what if the national unity government were to collapse?
This is the question being raised now. There are those who believe that the fact a national unity government has priority over everything else provides them with suitable cover for their continued pursuit of power and authority, and that they can hold security hostage in their hands to achieve further gains and positions. And this places us before some difficult choices.
While the other options raise the threat of a major catastrophe for the entire Palestinian situation, the public can no longer bear to see the unity government paralyzed except when it is being used as a cover to be exploited to achieve factional and private interests at the public's expense.
Two months have passed since the formation of the government and one month since the security plan that it ratified. But nothing has changed. When certain security forces took the initiative - as the interior minister the fate of whose resignation remains unknown put it - storms was raised in their path. And these storms did not subside even when Hamas and Fateh agreed to pull all armed elements - legitimate and illegitimate - off the streets.
The stories on the Palestinian street about the daily transgressions against citizens are enough to turn one's hair white. But officials just seem to see them as run-of-the-mill transgressions that should not threaten the national unity government.
Quite frankly, I am ashamed to recount some of these very real stories. But one such story speaks of certain criminals daring to ask a man to hand his wife over to them after he
handed them his car keys under threat from their weapons.
The fact of the matter is that if there is no concern for the ordinary Palestinian citizen's sufferings, then our decision-makers need to consider the future of their politicals movement and personal roles carefully, now that a major part of the resistance's weapons are being used for matters that have to do solely with domestic agendas.
Where are the Palestinian central authorities heading in light of these circumstances? This is a question being asked by everyone, but we hear only one answer: Everything is pitch black like asphalt, except the roads which remain without asphalt!"When will we finally wake up?" asks 'Awkal in conclusion.
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