MIFTAH
Thursday, 28 March. 2024
 
Your Key to Palestine
The Palestinian Initiatives for The Promotoion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
 
 
 

Prior to the establishment of the Palestinian national authority in 1994, I used to travel as a Palestinian using an Israeli travel document in which my citizenship was stated as "undefined". More than three months after Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza, and the persisting division between the internationally recognised, Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) based in the West Bank and Hamas's deposed government in Gaza, I feel as though my entire being is undefined.

Today we are imprisoned from all sides, including the sea, our vast symbol of freedom and opportunity that Israel stopped us sailing on long ago. Within the prison walls Gazans cannot escape the foul smell of burning rubbish that frequently fills the streets; many are forced to eat bread made of flour mixed with "feed wheat" - only suitable for animals - to compensate for flour shortages.

The appearance of leaders of both Hamas and Fatah, side by side on Tuesday at the funeral of my uncle, Dr Haidar Abdel-Shafi, the co-founder of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, was welcome. The suffering of ordinary Palestinians and the presence of Israel as an occupying force - whose military policies have bred division among Palestinians - can only be remedied by further expressions of unity between the parties, and a move to dialogue based on an unambiguous platform of pursuing peace with Israel.

It is urgent because Palestinians are drowning in half-truths. While internal security improved in the eyes of many Gazans with the change of power, some innocents were tortured by Hamas. The impact of yet another siege, and the collapse of whatever remains of an economy, health system or connection with the outside world, create profound instability in ordinary people's lives.

The deplorable conditions here only make it easier for Hamas to commit mistakes and violations. Improved internal security in Gaza and Hamas's victory in the 2006 elections cannot continue to be Hamas's only bargaining chips.

The PA's promise that, despite its physical distance, it would not forget Gaza's citizens, is not holding up well. Palestinian official ability to challenge the continuing military policies of Israel has been gravely corroded, as events on the ground illustrate. Many in Gaza perceive that Fatah provoked June's seizure of power by Hamas, and their suspicions are hardened by a sense that officials in the West Bank are looking the other way while life in Gaza loses any sense of dignity. In effect, Gaza is forgotten. Gaza is left voiceless.

It came as little surprise, therefore, to see how easily the Israeli cabinet was able to declare the Gaza Strip an "enemy entity" last week, legitimising the deliberate, and disproportionate, punishment of Gazans through disruption of electricity and fuel supplies. The move came in response to Palestinian home-made rockets targeting southern Israel, which Gazans widely oppose. Israel's declaration warns of a self-afforded licence to continue hammering the Gaza Strip, with barely any accountability.

Against this backdrop, Israeli and PA officials are drafting an agreement on principles ahead of the US-sponsored peace conference scheduled for November. But Palestinian division and the degeneration of 1.5 million Gazans into a humanitarian case - or an "enemy" humanitarian case - only diminish the Palestinian negotiating position. It also allows Israel's hawks to dismiss legitimate Palestinian demands for a just peace.

The resilience of Gazans is not so great that it will enable them to endure the consequences of Palestinian division on top of the continuing military incarceration from Israel. The real victims in the battle between Hamas and the PA are the people of Gaza. Here, ordinary lives are crippled, with access to medical care, municipal services and utilities brutally halted.

The international community's urgent intervention is much needed in urging divided Palestinians to talk while demanding that Israel releases its suffocating pressure. Any claim to a peace with Palestinians, when Palestinians remain divided, would be a misplaced and counterproductive gesture.

As Gaza tunnels in despair, it is plain that any progress in the Middle East must begin with building a peace among Palestinians, and it is in everyone's best interests - those of Palestinians, Israelis and the international community - to do everything in their power to allow that peace to be achieved. Sami Abdel-Shafi is the co-founder of Emerge Consulting Group, a management consultancy in Gaza City

 
 
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