Roll Back, Abbas!
By Israel Shamir
Mahmud Abbas, the PNA’s president, is
about to make a big mistake. So big that it will be a
cause for regret for many years to come. He has decided
to push for a referendum about whether the Palestinians
agree with “The Prisoners’ Agreement”. The Prisoners’
Agreement was made by leaders of Fatah, Hamas and other
groups presently in Israeli captivity, so one could
think it is a bilateral and non-controversial document.
Indeed it is: this agreement says the Palestinians are
ready for peace with the Jewish state on fulfilment of
three conditions: (1) all POWs should be released; (2)
Israel should withdraw to 67’ borders and (3) accept the
Right of Return for Palestinian refugees of 1948. The
three conditions are fully based upon UN resolutions and
on the norms of international law; and there is no
slightest doubt Olmert’s government is not going to
fulfil them.
When Rabbi Akiba, a Jewish sage of 2nd
century AD, got carried away and proclaimed a military
commander of the then Jewish Intifada against Rome the
Messiah of Israel, his colleagues poured cold water on
him: “Sooner will grass grow on your cheeks than we’ll
see the Messiah”. They were right: Akiba was executed,
and his commander was killed, and grass grew on their
tombs. Their words are perfectly suitable for the
Prisoners’ Agreement: no Zionist government of the
Jewish state will ever accept and fulfil these
conditions, no matter how much they’d lie to conceal
this.
So who needs this referendum? Next
thing we know, cats will offer a referendum: peace to
dogs, provided they cease pursuing them! If all
Palestinians will answer yea, will it make the Jewish
state to tremble and accept the conditions? No, no, and
again no. Fatah and Hamas know that; Abbas understands
that, and still he pushes for this meaningless
referendum. He is doing this to embarrass the legitimate
government of Palestine, for Hamas and Fatah differ on
what would happen if these impossible conditions were to
be fulfilled: a life-long truce or full peace. This
difference is as important for real politics as the
difference between eating a boiled egg from the rounded
or a sharp end, in Gulliver’s Travels. Even less so: the
Lilliputians actually ate eggs, while Hamas and Fatah
will never have a chance to test their theoretical
difference in real life. This does not mean these three
conditions can’t be met; but then, Israel wouldn’t be a
Jewish state, and it wouldn’t be led by a Zionist
government, and the difference between Hamas and Fatah
would be even less relevant at this point.
Hamas is right to reject Abbas’ call.
Now is not the time to deal with purely theoretical
question of a possible future. Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof, or in plain words, each day
has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34). Worse,
Abbas is not playing straight. Though he refers to the
Prisoners’ Agreement, he actually means something else:
he is ready to agree to “peace” if some prisoners
will be released, if in some places Israel will
withdraw to the 67’ border, and if some (a token
number) of refugees will be allowed back. This is also a
legitimate position; but Palestinians can’t accept or
refuse it unless the full details of an agreement with
Israel were known. Now, in absence of any such
agreement, the referendum is not just premature: it is
misleading. Let Abbas say frankly: “I want to make peace
with the Jewish state and rule over Palestine consisting
of three or four cantons, without Jerusalem, and with
token release of token prisoners. And forget about the
Return” – and then referendum will be unnecessary, for
the last elections gave the answer of the people.
This referendum is going to waste one
of great achievements of Hamas government – withdrawal
of unconditional recognition of the Jewish state made by
Arafat and Fatah in the heyday of Oslo. Every agreement
must be based on reciprocity: the Palestinians may
recognise Israel in 1967 borders if and when Israel
recognises Palestine in 1967 borders. Otherwise, Israel
will see its 1967 borders as a starting point for future
conquests. Hamas returned the Jewish-Palestinian
dialogue back to sanity by introducing the concept of
reciprocity: and now Abbas wants to surrender this most
reasonable demand by recognising the Jewish state
unconditionally.
The Jews applied a “moderate physical
pressure” (torture, in Shabakese) trying to squeeze this
recognition: they besiege Palestine, they steal
Palestinian money, block entrances and exits; by their
orders no American or European bank dares to trade or
transfer money to Palestine. The Jews want Palestinians
to surrender; and the referendum may be seen as a sign
of surrender. Thus, it would have dire consequences:
Hamas’ legitimacy will be called into question by its
own electorate; the freedom of manoeuvre so necessary
for carrying out negotiations with Olmert’s government
will be severely limited; the split within Palestinian
society will become a fait accompli.
The Zionists tempt Abbas to grasp
more power than is due to him; to interfere with
rightful choice of the people; to disregard the election
of Hamas. Abbas took the bait: he succumbed to the
Zionist temptation. He forgot that he is the President
of all Palestinians and preferred to be the king of
Fatah. He forgot that just a few months ago, Sharon and
Olmert proclaimed him “irrelevant” and “not a partner” –
now he dreams of crawling back to empty negotiations.
This call for referendum is accompanied by the beefing
up of Abbas’ own private army. Israel’s wet dream is to
have a civil war between Palestinian groups, and this
rash step of Abbas leads on the way to Hell. He should
remember that undermining Hamas will not solve the
problem; it will rather undermine legitimacy of his PNA.
Before it’s too late, Abbas should rise up to the
occasion and roll back his troops and his demands.
www.israelshamir.net