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Pity the Orphan

by Open-Publishing - Monday 23 January 2006

Wars and conflicts International Elections-Elected Uri Avnery

by Uri Avnery

IT WAS a colorful day in Bil’in. Political flags of
many colors were fluttering in the brisk breeze, the
vivid election posters and the colorful graffiti on the
walls adding their bit. It was the biggest
demonstration in the beleaguered village for a long
time. This week, the protest against the Fence was
interwoven with Palestinian electioneering.

I was happily marching along in the wintry sunshine,
holding high the Gush Shalom emblem of the flags of
Israel and Palestine side by side. We were approaching
the line of armed soldiers that was waiting for us,
when I suddenly realized that I was surrounded by the
green flags of Hamas.

Ordinary Israelis would have been flabbergasted. What,
the murderous terrorists marching in line with Israeli
peace activists? Israelis marching, talking and joking
with the potential suicide bombers? Impossible!

But it was quite natural. All the Palestinian parties
took part in the demonstration, together with the
Israeli and international activists. Together they ran
away from the clouds of tear gas, broke together
through the lines of soldiers, were beaten up together.
The green flags of Hamas, the yellow of Fatah, the red
of the Democratic Front and the blue-and-white of the
Israeli flag on our emblems harmonized, as did the
people who carried them.

In the end, many of us improvised a kind of protest
concert. Standing along the iron security railing,
Israelis and Palestinians together, we beat on it
rhythmically with stones, producing something like an
African tom-tom that could be heard for miles around.
The Orthodox settlers in nearby Modiin-Illit must have
wondered what it meant.

THE PARTICIPATION of all Palestinian parties was in
itself an important phenomenon. It was no doubt
encouraged by the Palestinian elections, due to take
place this coming Wednesday. It was curious to see the
same faces on the posters along our route and right
next to us in the crowd.

But it also showed the importance the Fence has assumed
in Palestinian eyes.

Years ago, when the construction of the Wall-cum-Fence
was just beginning, I went to see Yasser Arafat to
suggest a joint struggle against it. I got the
impression that the idea that the Wall was a serious
danger was quite new to him - the Palestinian
establishment had not yet grasped the significance of
it. Now it is near the top of the national agenda.

This week, on the eve of the elections in which Hamas
is expected to gain a significant share of the vote,
the picture of Hamas activists marching side by side
with Israeli peace activists, was important. Because
soon Hamas will enter the Palestinian Parliament and,
perhaps, the government, too.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE sharply criticized the elections
because of the participation of "terrorists", echoing
the statement of her new Israeli colleague, Tsipi
Livni, who declared that they are not "democratic
elections" because of Hamas.

What is emerging now is a new pretext for our
government to avoid negotiating with the elected
Palestinian leadership. The pretext changes frequently,
but the purpose remains the same.

First there was the assertion that Israel would not
negotiate until the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud
Abbas, dismantles the "terrorist infrastructure". That
was, indeed, an obligation under the Road Map - but so
was the obligation, completely ignored by Ariel Sharon,
simultaneously to remove the hundred settlements or so
that were set up after his coming to power.

Then came the claim that the Palestinian Authority was
in a state of anarchy. How can one negotiate with
anarchy?

Now there comes the contention that Israel cannot
possibly be expected to negotiate with a Palestinian
leadership that includes Hamas, an organization that
has carried out many suicide bombings and, at least
officially, does not accept the existence of Israel..

The pretexts are manifold, and more can be produced if
necessary. (Reminding me of my late friend, Natan
Yellin-Mor, former leader of the "Stern Gang" terrorist
underground and later peace activist, who said: "I wish
God would put in my way as many temptations as I have
pretexts for succumbing.")

Hamas’ presence in the next Palestinian government is
not a reason to reject peace negotiations. On the
contrary, it is a compelling reason for starting them
at long last. It would mean that we negotiate with the
entire Palestinian spectrum (excluding only the small
Islamic Jihad organization). If Hamas joins the
government on the basis of Mahmoud Abbas’ peace policy,
it is manifestly ripe for negotiations, with or without
arms, based on a hudnah (truce).

Thirty years ago, when I started secret contacts with
the PLO leadership, I was almost the only person in
Israel in favor of negotiating with the organization
that was at the time officially designated as
"terrorist". It took almost 20 years for the Israeli
government to come round to my point of view. Now we
are starting again from the same point.

Why do the Palestinian organizations refuse to give up
their arms? Let’s not deceive ourselves: for most
Palestinians, these arms are a kind of strategic
reserve. If negotiations with Israel lead nowhere, the
armed struggle will probably be resumed. That by itself
is not unheard of. (See: Ireland.)

EVEN IF Mahmoud Abbas wanted to disarm Hamas, he would
be unable to. His weak position, combined with the
weakness of his Fatah movement makes such a measure
impossible.

This weakness, which also finds its expression in the
Fawda ("anarchy"), derives mainly from one source: the
sly efforts of Sharon to undermine his position.

I have pointed this out more than once: for Sharon, the
rise of Abbas constituted a serious danger. Being
favored by President Bush as an example of his success
in bringing democracy and peace to the Middle East, he
threatened the exclusive relationship between the US
and Israel, perhaps even opening the way for American
pressure on Israel.

To prevent this, Sharon denied Abbas even the slightest
political concession, such as releasing prisoners
(Marwan Barghouti springs to mind), changing the path
of the Wall, freezing settlement, coordinating the
withdrawal from Gaza with Abbas, etc. This campaign was
successful. The authority of Abbas has been
significantly weakened.

Now Sharon’s successors are using this very weakness as
a pretext to reject serious negotiations with him and
the next Palestinian government, calling to mind the
story of the boy who, having killed both his parents,
threw himself upon the mercy of the court: "Have pity
on a poor orphan!"

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