The Palestinian Unity Government Will Shape Its Own Fate
Rami G. Khouri
June 05, 2014
The
Palestinian national unity government of technocrats headed by Prime Minister
Rami Hamdallah that was sworn into office in Ramallah Monday is rich
in irony and opportunity. It offers important new possibilities, if key actors
respond reasonably, rather than hysterically.
The new government’s own policies will be
telling of what it might portend for the Palestinians’ hopes of ending the
Israeli occupation and siege of the West Bank and Gaza through negotiations,
and moving towards the birth of a viable independent state. The most critical
criterion of its success or failure will be its ability to achieve a series of
priorities for the Palestinians in the occupied territories and in the
diaspora. These include forging a stronger sense of genuine unity among
Palestinians, holding parliamentary elections in six months’ time, improving
day-to-day living conditions in the occupied territories, and shaping a clear diplomatic
and resistance policy vis-a-vis Israel that is supported by a strong majority
of Palestinians who act politically through the revived institutions of the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
This government came into being because the
separate policies of both Fateh in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza had reached
dead ends, and both groups had been steadily losing support and even legitimacy
among Palestinians. Fateh’s bold policy under President Mahmoud Abbas of
negotiating endlessly with Israel in the context of Washington’s Israel-leaning
mediation has proved fruitless. Hamas’ policy of armed resistance and building
institutions at home has also failed to improve living conditions and
opportunities for ordinary citizens.
Israel’s reaction has been predictably hostile,
promising not to deal with the new government and to impose punishments. We
have been through this before, without any meaningful results from the Israeli
boycott. Ironically, Israel is now in the same position the Arab world assumed
in September 1970, when Arab leaders declared at the Khartoum summit their
three “no’s”: “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations
with it.”
Now Israel is the side that rejects dealing with
the other, even though its own government is composed of several right-wing
parties that represent a majority of Israelis. Some of these Israeli parties in
the government also reject the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state, and yet
they expect the world to agree with them unconditionally.
The reactions of the United States and the
European Union to the new government will be the most important ones to watch
in the short run. Initial signs that the United States and the EU will deal
with the Palestinian government suggest that the rest of the world will follow
suit, leaving Israel badly isolated and wallowing in its own vindictiveness.
The United States has wisely and reasonably said
it would judge the Palestinian government on the basis of its policies,
acknowledging that its Israeli-induced boycott of the Hamas-led government
following the 2006 elections was a mistake. Washington, the Europeans and many
others have also said they expect the new government to adhere to international
principles, including recognizing Israel, renouncing violence, and respecting
previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements. The new government has stated it will
do so, even while Hamas itself rejects some of these principles.
Hamas has sensibly stated for years that it
would respect any peace agreement that is ratified by a majority of
Palestinians, and is willing to back a unity government of technocrats that
tests the diplomatic water. It does so because it is convinced that a
negotiated peace with Israel is not possible, given the current imbalance of
power and coalition of rightwing Zionists that rules Israel.
The Palestinian government’s adherence to the
three principles related to its ties with Israel — with the agreement of all
major political groups — may put new pressure on Israel to show if it, too, is
committed to these three principles. The rising tide of international
criticism, and even boycotts of Israeli conduct in the occupied territories has
already sharpened the focus on the criminal nature of Zionist conduct vis-a-vis
the Palestinians: the assassinations, siege, annexation, colonization,
collective punishment and other nasty policies that are carried out by the
Israeli government and army. The new Palestinian government’s commitment to
negotiate a peace agreement and honor existing agreements will only further
isolate Israel and force its citizens to decide whether their present rightwing
coalition government accurately reflects their views.
Much of what happens now will depend on the
steps the new Palestinian government will take. Its commitment to a peaceful
resolution of the conflict suggests that its first priority should be to
clarify the implications and purpose of the 2002 Arab Peace Plan, which remains
on the table but has never elicited a serious Israeli response. This could be
the most effective way to move towards achieving the main priorities of the new
government, which are forging a strong national consensus, revitalizing the
inputs of diaspora Palestinians in national decision-making, and mobilizing the
significant international support that exists for the Palestinian cause.
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares
Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American
University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. On Twitter: @ramikhouri.
Copyright © 2014 Rami G. Khouri—distributed by
Agence Global