Why is it always the somebody else's fault?
Maher Othman conducts an analysis in his article entitled, Palestine: A Democratic Achievement…What Next? for Lebanon's Dar Al Hayat. He suggests several reasons for the recent Hamas victory inlcuding the main reason cited in my analysis, namely Fatah's corruption and subsequent disregard for the Palestinian people.
He points to several other factors for Fatah's defeat which I find interesting to say the least.
Mr. Othman states, "The first is that Israel did not give the PA's party, since President Abbas took over the presidency succeeding to the late Yasser Arafat, anything that it can offer to its people as an achievement; such as heading towards an acceptable settlement in the near future. Moreover, the US President George Bush walked away from the Palestinians and was occupied by the repercussions of the war on Iraq. He remained a strong ally of Israel despite its violation of the international resolutions, thus, failing to keep his promises to Abbas."
Later in the article, he states, "After all, there was no peace process initially. Moreover, during the last few years, the US was not serious about striving to achieve a settlement."
He also notes, "The international reactions are ongoing and materializing despite the fact that some of them, especially the ones expressed by the EU countries and the US, have defined perspectives. No one will engage any dialogue with "Hamas" if it does not recognize Israel and change its charter in conformity with this recognition. It should also set aside its arms, since this armed status is inconsistent with its presence in the legislative council and at the helm of the PA later and soon."
Fianally he comments about Israel's ascertion, "It announced yesterday that it will call for halting the financial assistance granted to the PA and will not negotiate therewith. Thus, the way is now wide open for Israel to take more unilateral moves. It will probably continue to draw its borders by biting into more Palestinian territories, under the same old fictional pretext "No partner on the other side."
While I don't disagree with the statements in their own right, I do disagree with the context of blame in all the statements. The main theme regarding all of these factors for Hamas' success is it is somebody else's fault lending to the fact that if Hamas fails like Fatah, it isn't the Palestinian's fault. It is the United States', The Europeon Union's, and Israel's fault.
The Israelis did not give Abbas anything. There was no peace process. The US was not serious about achieving a settlement. Israel is in violation of international law. No one will engage with Hamas unless it recognized Israel. Israel is halting financial assistance. Israel will continue unilateral disengagement.
The is no mention of the hundred of millions upon hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid and extensive development support. I guess it is Sharon's fault that despite several Palestinian broken truces, he should have looked the other way and not retaliated against in kind. Oh by the way, he did not retaliate in kind, but was extremely tempered in his responses. The fact that Arafat was given almost everything the Palestinians wanted by President Clinton but chose to continue the intifada and not continue negotiations is conveniently omitted. President Bush liberating Iraq and bringing democracy to the Palestinians (not to mention the Lebanese) is also strangely absent. Israel, since it does not have a trustworthy partner on the other side continues to disengage from occupied territories. But heck, this puts Israel in violation of international law. But Hamas is in compliance with international law by refusing to recognized the UN Mandate of 1948 creating the state of Israel and committing terrorists acts.
As stated previously, Hamas will have to moderate since it is now in a unique position. Specifically, if it targets Israel, Israel now has a fixed government which to attack and not just a bunch of terrorists in camps.
More than anything, it seems that Mr. Othman is upset that the Hamas terrorist organization will no longer be able to carry out its violent terrorists attacks with impunity anymore. And if it fails to transform from a terrorist organization to the democratically elected government for the people, it too will be voted out of the democracy and as a result receive little support for continued terrorists acts.
The Palestinian election is a watershed event. They have nobody to blame but themselves for their future success or failure. The have voted out one corrupt party for another corrupt party. This is their free choice, just as it is the free choice of other countries to withhold aid. It is now up to Palestinian leadership to begin the political process, stop senseless terrorists acts, quite blaming others for their plight, and grow up. They have started the process of growing up by participating in free democratic elections. Now lets see if they grow up enough to understand that the art of democratic compromise.
He points to several other factors for Fatah's defeat which I find interesting to say the least.
Mr. Othman states, "The first is that Israel did not give the PA's party, since President Abbas took over the presidency succeeding to the late Yasser Arafat, anything that it can offer to its people as an achievement; such as heading towards an acceptable settlement in the near future. Moreover, the US President George Bush walked away from the Palestinians and was occupied by the repercussions of the war on Iraq. He remained a strong ally of Israel despite its violation of the international resolutions, thus, failing to keep his promises to Abbas."
Later in the article, he states, "After all, there was no peace process initially. Moreover, during the last few years, the US was not serious about striving to achieve a settlement."
He also notes, "The international reactions are ongoing and materializing despite the fact that some of them, especially the ones expressed by the EU countries and the US, have defined perspectives. No one will engage any dialogue with "Hamas" if it does not recognize Israel and change its charter in conformity with this recognition. It should also set aside its arms, since this armed status is inconsistent with its presence in the legislative council and at the helm of the PA later and soon."
Fianally he comments about Israel's ascertion, "It announced yesterday that it will call for halting the financial assistance granted to the PA and will not negotiate therewith. Thus, the way is now wide open for Israel to take more unilateral moves. It will probably continue to draw its borders by biting into more Palestinian territories, under the same old fictional pretext "No partner on the other side."
While I don't disagree with the statements in their own right, I do disagree with the context of blame in all the statements. The main theme regarding all of these factors for Hamas' success is it is somebody else's fault lending to the fact that if Hamas fails like Fatah, it isn't the Palestinian's fault. It is the United States', The Europeon Union's, and Israel's fault.
The Israelis did not give Abbas anything. There was no peace process. The US was not serious about achieving a settlement. Israel is in violation of international law. No one will engage with Hamas unless it recognized Israel. Israel is halting financial assistance. Israel will continue unilateral disengagement.
The is no mention of the hundred of millions upon hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid and extensive development support. I guess it is Sharon's fault that despite several Palestinian broken truces, he should have looked the other way and not retaliated against in kind. Oh by the way, he did not retaliate in kind, but was extremely tempered in his responses. The fact that Arafat was given almost everything the Palestinians wanted by President Clinton but chose to continue the intifada and not continue negotiations is conveniently omitted. President Bush liberating Iraq and bringing democracy to the Palestinians (not to mention the Lebanese) is also strangely absent. Israel, since it does not have a trustworthy partner on the other side continues to disengage from occupied territories. But heck, this puts Israel in violation of international law. But Hamas is in compliance with international law by refusing to recognized the UN Mandate of 1948 creating the state of Israel and committing terrorists acts.
As stated previously, Hamas will have to moderate since it is now in a unique position. Specifically, if it targets Israel, Israel now has a fixed government which to attack and not just a bunch of terrorists in camps.
More than anything, it seems that Mr. Othman is upset that the Hamas terrorist organization will no longer be able to carry out its violent terrorists attacks with impunity anymore. And if it fails to transform from a terrorist organization to the democratically elected government for the people, it too will be voted out of the democracy and as a result receive little support for continued terrorists acts.
The Palestinian election is a watershed event. They have nobody to blame but themselves for their future success or failure. The have voted out one corrupt party for another corrupt party. This is their free choice, just as it is the free choice of other countries to withhold aid. It is now up to Palestinian leadership to begin the political process, stop senseless terrorists acts, quite blaming others for their plight, and grow up. They have started the process of growing up by participating in free democratic elections. Now lets see if they grow up enough to understand that the art of democratic compromise.
posted by Lieutenant Colonel Caveman at Sunday, January 29, 2006
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